The Bright Sunset and the Evening Moon
by Mo-chan769
Summary: An ancient tribe of dragon demons was destroyed thousands of years ago by a vengeful demon that wanted their staff of power. 5 members of the tribe remain, and they have no memory of being demon, for they were sent to live in human world at infancy.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho… or Hiei, I'm sad about that fact, but maybe someday I'll scrounge up enough money for that. I do however own Yube, Teki, Akarui, Tasuke, Melanie, Jess, and any other characters that are not from YYH.

**The Bright Sunset and the Evening Moon** Chapter 1: Arcade Madness, The New Girls, and the Fire Search

Two girls were walking down the street, looking kind of bored. One of them had black hair with a single silver streak in it, right down the middle. Her hair was mid-back length too. Her eyes were green, and she wore black jeans, black shoes, and a red T-shirt, also accompanied by black finger cut-off gloves.

The other girl had black hair, and it was in a high ponytail on the back of her head. She had bright blue eyes, wore midnight blue jeans, black shoes, and a black T-shirt. She wore gloves that had no fingers at all except for the middle one, but on both gloves, the fingertips of the middle one were cut-off.

Both girls were tired, bored, and looked ready to punch someone. They obviously weren't planning on going to school, because they were not donning their uniforms.

"Well Akarui, another day, another waste of time to go to school," said the silver streaked one, looking at the other. The girl by the name of Akarui just nodded, and then smirked as her friend continued, "I think I just got sick, looks like I can't go to school today," she said.

Akarui turned to her friend, who got the idea, "Yeah, me too. You know, I hear this disease is called boredom syndrome, and the only cure is to go to the arcade," the silver streaked girl smirked as well as the two took a left turn at a corner.

"Great thought Yube! I bet the arcade has plenty of remedies for boredom syndrome," Akarui grinned as they kept walking. What those two didn't know was that school was cancelled for them today because the teachers had a meeting.

When the two girls reached the arcade, it looked crowded. There were people everywhere, crowding around some new games that had recently been added to the arcade. Both girls weren't keen on being in big crowds.

"Aw, damn. It's a bit crowded right now, Yube," Akarui said, sounding disappointed.

"Well, let's just make room!" Yube demanded. Akarui nodded, then called out, "Yo! Everyone clear a path for Yuyake and Tsuki!" People in the area all looked nervously at the two girls and many of them moved out of their path. However, a group of guys close to the girls' own age remained.

Akarui and Yube walked toward a game that they liked to play together, but the two reached the machine, the thugs moved in their way.

"Move it. Or haven't you heard? We're Tsuki and Yuyake?" Yube glowered at the thug that appeared to be the leader. He stood at the head of the group, a stare fixed on the two girls. As Yube's eyes found his, he flinched ever so slightly, but he stood strong and cleared his throat.

"You two are way too pretty to be that tough. What are you going to do if I don't move? Huh?" The idiot seemed to be digging his own grave.

The girls looked at eachother as to explain the battle plan in a mere glance. Akarui then immediately kicked one of the guys down, followed by a dash towards the other one who received a knee to the gut and then a downward elbow on his noggin. The one she had kicked first tried to recover, but she quickly turned her attention back to him and delivered a swift kick, dropping it directly down on his back.

The guy that appeared to be the leader of the group now looked a bit shocked to say the least. Yube smirked towards him. Her expression was leaking what the guy could easily mistake for malice.

"We'll do that if you don't move. Are you confident that you can evade that?" she answered his question with one of her own. The thug stood his ground, seeming to believe that he was stronger than those two, but obviously concerned that he may not be able to keep up with the speed Akarui had just shown him. Akarui and Yube glanced at one another again, then shrugged and Akarui held out her arms in a gesture that to Yube meant 'go ahead and kick his ass.'

Yube nodded and she walked forward toward the thug. He stood there, looking slightly nervous. From behind Yube, Akarui was taunting him with faces. Mocking what she believed were his scared expressions. Yube smirked and started to pull her arm back to punch the thug. She did, she punched him square in the jaw. The thug was sent straight into the basketball machine. The machine was dented heavily from the force of the impact.

"Nice shot, Yube," Akarui smiled as the girls started playing the game that the thug had been blocking the whole time with his damn obesity.

"Thanks," Yube said simply as she started pressing buttons on the first player control pad like crazy. The girls were playing a fighting game, which was obvious from the grunting and kiap sounds the game made. It was the newest game in the arcade, and they had already set a bunch of outrageous high scores.

After few hours of video games, the girls had grown a bit tired from watching their characters bloody one another. They started walking toward the door of the arcade.

"So, where are we heading next, eh, Yube?" Akarui asked her friend. Yube shrugged,

"Wherever the flow takes us," she answered. Akarui and Yube were just walking out the door when they bumped into someone and both girls and the person they had bumped fell down to the ground.

"Hey, watch where you're going, idiot!" Yube got up and yelled at the person they had crashed into. Akarui got up as well and looked irritated.

"Excuse me, you crashed into me! You stupid bitch!" the person yelled back.

The person they had crashed into had black hair that was slicked back and brown eyes. He wore green pants and a green blazer over a white shirt. He seemed to be around the same age as Yube and Akarui, maybe a year or two younger. The look on his face was obvious anger from being called an idiot. He had gotten up quickly and he was glaring daggers towards them.

"Actually, you crashed into us. Stupid bitchy ass," Akarui gave him a cold look. The guy was about to punch Akarui for saying that, but someone held back his arm.

"Come on, lemme at 'em!" the boy yelled angrily as his 'friend' that held him back.

"Yusuke, you really need to control your temper. I'm sorry about this," his red haired friend said politely. An orange haired, ugly guy came up to Yusuke.

"God Urameshi, why do you pick fights with girls, that's not very nice," he said to the black haired guy.

"Shut the hell up Kuwabara! They picked a fight with me, I was just delivering an attack!" the boy now known as Yusuke Urameshi yelled at the orange haired boy.

The young men next to Urameshi looked about average. One of them had orange hair, stood about 6ft 3in tall and wore blue pants and a matching blue blazer, his school uniform. (Kuwabara's taller than Spike from Cowboy Bebop! o.o)

The other has long red hair and green eyes. This one also stood taller than Urameshi, though not as tall as the other. He wore light red pants and a red blazer, obviously his school uniform. The girls knew what the Meioh High School uniforms looked like an account of them being students there.

Yube and Akarui glanced at eachother, Yusuke Urameshi? They'd heard of him, he's supposed to be some unbeatable jerk. They'd heard of many of his misdeeds and his record of never losing a street fight. Also, they'd heard that he could summon 100 of his thugs just by whistling.

"You're Yusuke Urameshi?" Akarui asked, pointing at Yusuke. Yusuke seemed to have calmed slightly.

"Yeah, what of it?" he said.

"The 'Great Urameshi?' You don't really strike me as an unbeatable jerk," Yube observed him.

"What _do_ I strike you as?" Yusuke asked curiously.

"You strike both of us as a very wimpy and defeatable asshole," Akarui answered for Yube, who nodded her agreement.

Yusuke steamed, "What the hell? You come right here and say that you class A bitches! I'll send you two on a one-way trip to hell! I'll show you an 'undefeatable jerk' if you get back over here! Get back here!" Yusuke yelled loudly as the two girls laughed and walked away. Kurama and Kuwabara both struggled to restrain him. Once Yusuke calmed down and turned around, he noticed people staring at him, and got irritated.

"Haven't you people ever seen a guy get pissed off before!" he yelled. Kuwabara and Kurama sighed at their friend.

Yube and Akarui smiled as they walked down the street once again.

"I think Urameshi will be coming after us later, what do you think, Yube?" Akarui looked at her friend.

"I think that little wimp will be pissed at us and try to track us down to beat the shit out of us," Yube answered with an emotionless and predicting tone.

"I'll agree with that. So what do we do until Urameshi finds us?" Akarui relaxed as she put her hands behind her head and that bored look returned to her face.

Yube thought for a minute, "Well, we could train a bit, you know, so we're ready for Yusuke when he comes," Yube answered.

"Are you actually concerned about his strength? That's not like you, Yube," Akarui questioned her.

"Well, he has spirit energy like us, and damn, that's gotta mean that he has a chance of hurting us," Yube pointed out.

Akarui nodded, "Alright, then let's get started with that training!" she pumped a fist into the air. The two girls ran off somewhere for their training.

Back at the arcade, Yusuke had calmed down just a little and he was playing the same game that the girls had been playing earlier, but against Kuwabara. Yusuke's character kicked Kuwabara' character's head off and the words 'Player 1 Wins!' appeared on the screen. Then the words "HIGH SCORE" came up and it went to a screen with the top five high scores. Yusuke's score was third to someone that went by 'Yuyake,' and someone called 'Tsuki.'

"Tsuki and Yuyake always get the scores right in front of mine, I wonder who they are." Yusuke said aloud.

Kurama read the screen and smiled briefly for a moment. "You met them earlier; those two girls at the entrance were Yuyake and Tsuki. Those are their surnames," the fox demon told his friend.

Yusuke's eyes widened and then he walked up to Kurama. "You know those bitches, Kurama!" He demanded, holding the fox by the front of his shirt.

"Um… Well, those two go to my school, and their test scores are right behind Kaitou's and my own. They just joined the school about a month ago, and they have unique skills in fighting and spirit energy." Kurama explained briefly, surprised at how Yusuke could hold a grudge.

Yusuke's eyes bulged out of his head. "They have spirit energy? Why didn't you tell me earlier?" He shook his friend furiously. He then stopped and took a deep breath to calm himself down.

"Well, I thought you noticed their auras. Plus, you didn't ask me if I knew them" Kurama answered as Yusuke put him down.

Kuwabara spoke up after having been quiet this whole time. "Just joined your school a month ago and they're already on the top test scores list? That's pretty impressive, huh, Urameshi?" He said to Yusuke, who nodded. The spirit detective thought for a minute.

"Wait, I have heard those names! The gang I beat up on the way to Dufus-boy's house this morning was complaining about two girls by the names of Yuyake and Tsuki. Hey Kurama, what else do you know about them?" Yusuke asked his friend. Kurama sighed and shook his head as he recalled what the knew of the girls.

"Well, I do know that their first names are Akarui and Yube. They're in a few classes with me, and Akarui is my partner in the Chemistry Lab," he said.

"So why didn't you say 'hi' to them or something?" Yusuke raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I didn't recognize them at first. They usually have on their uniforms when I see them. That and I was too busy restraining you, Yusuke," Kurama pointed out.

"Oh," Yusuke scratched his head a bit bashful at how he'd lost his temper.

"Well, those two girls _were_ emitting some strange energy," Kuwabara spoke up after listening to his two friends discuss this.

"Am I the only one that didn't sense their energy?" Yusuke asked. The other two glanced at one another and then nodded. "So, anyone up for girl-hunting after the arcade?" Yusuke asked after his question was answered. The guys nodded as they started heading for the door to the arcade.

"So Kurama, why did you join us at the arcade anyway? Shouldn't the prodigy be at school?" Kuwabara asked the fox after a few silent moments. Kurama smiled at him.

"Well actually, my teachers have an important meeting today and school was cancelled, but they might not have gotten word out to all students," he told them.

"Lucky you, we just got bored and skipped," Yusuke laughed.

Akarui threw a punch at Yube's face and Yube blocked it with her left arm, following with a counter of a right jab that landed square on Akarui's nose.

"Yeowch! Yube, why did you have to punch my nose?" Akarui had also been grounded with that last punch. Yube smiled and walked over to her friend.

"Well, you gotta learn to be offensive and defensive at the same time, or you'll never be as good as me." Yube said this to her with a wink and a smile.

"Right, let's try that again," Akarui stood up and resumed her ready stance. Her weight shifted more toward one leg than the other.

The two girls started the match over again. This time when Akarui's punched was blocked and Yube countered, Akarui blocked Yube's first counter, but the second one had been a knee to the gut.

Akarui grabbed her stomach as she tried to regain the breath that had been kncked out of her. "God Yube, go a hell of lot easier on me if you're gonna do that!" She practically gagged the words out.

"I'd like to call that move 'The counter of a blocked counter that makes your opponent gag up their lunch!'" Yube declared, jokingly.

"Very funny, but I didn't gag up my lunch; I haven't even eaten lunch," Akarui pointed out.

Yube shrugged before she continued. "Yeah, but at the way I nailed your stomach, you won't be feeling up to lunch for a few hours," she shook her head.

After another hour, the girls both plopped on the ground and breathed heavily. They'd been sparring in one of the many parks around town. Both smiled as they stared at the sky. Yube spoke after a few moments of catching her breath.

"So, you think Urameshi will find us anytime soon?" Yube asked.

"I hope not, I'm tired," Akarui said.

"Well, if he's as dumb as I hear, then he'll be at the arcade for awhile," Yube smiled.

"That's good, because I'm gonna get some ice cream. Want some?" Akarui sat up as she noticed an ice cream cart nearby.

"I'll take chocolate," Yube said. Akarui nodded and went over to the ice cream cart and ordered their ice cream.

When Akarui got back with two ice cream cones, she handed the chocolate one to Yube, and ate the vanilla one herself. The girls were now just sitting on a park bench eating their ice cream, or at least Akarui was until she ran over to a trashcan and puked up her ice cream.

Yube laughed at her friend's misfortune. "I so warned you!" she said, still holding back some chuckles.

"Damn you, Yube! Now I can't even enjoy my ice cream!" Akarui poked her head up from the trashcan to glare at her friend. Once she was finished at the trashcan, Akarui returned to her spot on the bench.

Yube had finished her ice cream, and Akarui frowned and made a sad whiney noise similar to what a dog would sound like.

"I miss my ice cream!" Akarui sulked.

"Oh stop complaining about it! Let's go climb a tree or something. That'll get your mind off of ice cream," Yube stood up and her friend followed suit.

Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama were walking around town. Yusuke was frantically looking around for the bitches- er…-ladies that they ran into earlier. He wasn't using his sense however, or he would've been tracking them based on their spirit energies.

"Where are those two? Seriously! I need to punch something other than Kuwabara for once!" Yusuke yelled, looking from left to right.

Kurama held back a small chuckle at Kuwabara's expense. "Could you not harm those two, Yusuke? It might be hard to believe, but they _are_ my friends," the fox said.

"Yeah Urameshi! Those girls are Kurama's friends! So you don't need to beat the heck out of them!" Kuwabara tried to think of other reasons for Yusuke not to hit the girls.

"Well, I'm your friend too! And friends don't let friends pick on other friends!" Yusuke hadn't given in yet. Kurama stopped to decipher exactly what Yusuke meant by that and then he shook his head.

"Yusuke, I told you I didn't recognize them at first," Kurama said.

"Fine! I won't beat the shit out of them like I originally planned, but I still want to find them and demand an apology!" Yusuke sped up his pace.

"He's really pumped." Kuwabara sighed.

"I suppose we'd best tag along to make sure he actually doesn't harm them." Kurama sighed too as they followed Yusuke.

Akarui and Yube were at the top of a tree. "Wow, I forgot how nice the view was from up here!" Akarui said, shading her from the sun while looking around.

"See? I told you that you'd forget about ice cream," Yube pointed out.

Akarui blinked, "I still miss it," she muttered sadly. Yube sweatdropped and shook her head. Akarui was still sightseeing from the branch they were on, and she saw a familiar redhead down in the park below.

"Hey Yube, I think that's Shuichi-kun down there! Let's go say hi!" Akarui cheered and hopped down from the branch they were on. Yube sighed and followed. The two girls landed right in front of Kurama, both girls down in a crouch. After a moment of silence and awe the girls stood at their full height, Yube about 3 inches taller than Akarui.

"Hi, Shuichi-kun!" The girls greeted him simultaneously.

"Huh? Hello, Akarui, Yube. Nice to see you girls." Kurama smiled and tipped his head forward slightly as a gesture of respect..

"Hey! You two! I demand an apology from this morning because Kurama won't let me kick your asses from here to hell and back!" Yusuke yelled at the girls. Both girls blinked then remembered Yusuke.

"Oh yes, I remember now. You crashed into us and we called you a very wimpy and defeatable asshole, don't you recall, Yube?" Akarui smiled, looking at her friend. Yube nodded and Kurama cleared his throat.

"Now, now, you two. Please be nice to Yusuke. He's been extremely irritated since we ran into you." Kurama almost felt like he was a mother lecturing these girls.

"Who wouldn't be? But I guess since Shuichi-kun asked us so nicely, we could lighten up on the insults. We're sorry Urameshi." Akarui nodded towards Yusuke.

"Oh and Urameshi, why did you call Shuichi by the name Kurama?" Yube looked suspiciously at Yusuke.

Yusuke blinked, and then mentally kicked himself. "Oh that, it's just a nickname!"

"A nickname? Are you sure?" Yube questioned Yusuke's nervous statement.

"Shuichi-kun, is that really your nickname?" Akarui looked at Kurama. The fox demon nodded, indicating that it was indeed his nickname.

"Hey, Shuichi, why aren't you at school today? You're usually such a good student," Yube asked him curiously.

"You didn't receive word of the cancellation?" Kurama asked her.

"Cancellation? It was cancelled? Man and I thought we skipped today." Yube questioned this 'cancellation'. She looked over at Akarui with a disappointed look. Akarui just gave her an 'I told you something was up today' look.

"That's strange, you two seem to act just like me, but you get the top grades along with Kurama and Kaitou?" Yusuke asked.

"Well, we aren't exactly like you; we don't skip school too much. We just beat up gangs after hours at night, usually," Akarui said.

"So you two have classes with Kaitou and Kurama?" Kuwabara wanted to make that part clear.

"Yup, and we have Chem. Lab with Kaitou and Shuichi-kun. Shuichi-kun is my partner, and Yube is Kaitou's partner. The teacher randomly selected our partners with paper slips and a hat." Akarui explained.

The group sat around discussing how the girls knew Shuichi and, on many occasions found, time to insult Kuwabara in mid-sentence. Suddenly a little toddler appeared out of nowhere, and it was floating in midair. The toddler had a big blue binky in his mouth and a big hat that said 'Jr.' on it. He didn't exactly receive the greeting he was expecting, which became apparent as the group kept gabbing. The toddler then cleared his throat very loudly.

"Koenma? Can't you see we're busy?" Yusuke asked.

"I can see that, Yusuke. But we've got some serious trouble! At 4:30 this afternoon meet Botan at Genkai's temple and bring those two girls with you! Oh, and find Hiei too!" Koenma demanded, and then disappeared.

Yube and Akarui blinked, both blatantly confused.

"Who's the toddler? And why did it vanish?" Yube asked.

Kurama found a hint of amusement in Yube's bluntness as he answered. "That person was Koenma as you probably heard from Yusuke. He is the prince of the Reikai, or Spirit World. And apparently he's called us to a mission," he tried to explain.

"A mission?" questioned Yube.

"Yeah, a mission. And Now we've gotta find Hiei and get to Genkai's place!" Yusuke responded.

"I'm terribly confused, but for the sake of going along with this… What's this Hiei look like? Just so we know what to search for," Akarui asked.

"He's really short, wears black, and has spiky black hair. He's really stubborn and he's a big jerk." Kuwabara answered.

"Well, we have three hours to find Hiei, let's split up and search," Kurama suggested.

"Um… where do we search? Huh, Shuichi?" Yube raised an eyebrow.

"Hiei likes to be in quiet or secluded places usually, he is difficult to find when he doesn't wish to be found," Kurama said.

"Okay then! Let's split up gang!" Akarui cheered and whipped out a piece of paper and a pencil. She proceeded to draw a brief concept map of the town. She was done in about one minute and then she took out colored markers and began marking the map.

"Yusuke, you take this part of town. Kuwabara, take this part of town. Shuichi-kun, you take Sakura Street through Kamiya Street. Finally, Yube will take this part of town and I'll take the park and this part of town!" Akarui assigned everyone an area to search, pointing to a different area of color as she spoke.

"If anyone finds Hiei, raise you spirit energy or just blow something up… unless you can think of another way to signal us," Yusuke instructed.

"Alright already, let's just search," Yube said and started running toward her assigned area. Everyone else went to his or her area.

Akarui started her search around the park. _I wonder if this Hiei can climb trees?_ She thought to herself. She climbed every tree in the park within an hour's time. She hadn't found anybody. She searched around the center of the park and in all the quiet areas she could find. No luck at all. Soon she moved on to the part of the city she assigned herself, but he hadn't been found there either, so she sat down on a bench in the park. She sat down and thought.

_Let's see, Shuichi-kun said he usually liked to be in a quiet or secluded area away from crowds, but I haven't found Hiei anywhere. Where else is there? If I don't find him within the next hour, I'm going to start calling out his name until he comes and asks why I'm calling his name!_ Akarui thought impatiently.

Yusuke wasn't having much luck either. He had searched all the streets in his area and no luck, so he started looking in the alleys. "Damn it, where are you, Hiei?" the detective yelled in the alley, which caused an echo. There was still no one there. Yusuke kept going through the alley, hoping to have some sign of the fire demon.

Yube wasn't having any luck at all. She was running around, looking for any short guys with black hair that defied physics, but she didn't see any. Yube got desperate enough to start asking people if they'd seen anyone that fit the description, but no one had. _Awe damn! What a way to spend a Friday afternoon! I don't want to waste it searching for some stranger I don't know! Crap! Crap! Crap!_ Yube thought to herself, very irritated by this.

Kurama hadn't had any luck in finding Hiei either. He was searching around building tops, alleyways, and any other areas that Hiei was usually in. He did sense Hiei around, but Kurama couldn't pinpoint the location. _Hiei, where are you hiding around this time? I certainly hope the others are having better luck than I am!_ The fox demon hoped. Kurama kept searching.

Kuwabara's search was going just as bad as the others were. He was running around alleys and streets, trees, and he even went onto some rooftops. He was now just running around, yelling 'Hiei! Where are you, shrimp?' But that wasn't working either. So Kuwabara looked, and looked, and looked, and looked, and looked. Alas, he couldn't seem to locate Hiei.

Back to Akarui, she was still having no luck. _That's it!_ She thought; _I'm going to start yelling out his name! I don't care if people look at me strangely, there's only one hour left to find him and get to that lady's house!_ She was thinking this as she glanced at a clock. Akarui had still been in the park, but she had searched her area over at least three times.

"Alright here it goes," Akarui said to herself, then took a deep breath. "HIEI!" She yelled as loud as she could, yet her tone was still very impatient, no matter how much air she was using. She waited for a few seconds to regain her breath, and no one came. So she yelled again. "HIEI!"

A figure fell out of a tree nearby. Akarui turned around and saw a short black haired guy with black clothes on. "Ah, you must be the one I was looking for, you fit the description perfectly," Akarui rushed over to the guy and observed him. _They forgot to mention how hot this guy was. Oh well, I wouldn't expect to hear boys say that about other boys, that would just be gay. _Akarui thought to herself, or so she thought no one heard her thoughts.

"That would be rather gay, but more importantly. Why are you yelling so loud? Are you trying to make my eardrums bleed?" Hiei demanded impatiently.

"Wait, how did you know what I was thinking? Does that mean you heard the first part too?" Akarui blushed as she asked this.

"I heard every one of your thoughts. Actually, I more or less, felt them. Now answer my question," Hiei seemed annoyed by her already.

"I was yelling for you because… I really don't know exactly why I was, but some floating toddler told us to look for you, so, I guess I got caught up in it." She told him, but then added as an afterthought." Oh, and I wasn't _trying_ to make your eardrums bleed… So what were you doing, falling out of a tree?" Akarui asked, glancing at Hiei now that he was standing up. He was shorter than she was by a couple inches.

"I _was_ in the tree, until an idiot yelled my name and distracted me," Hiei replied.

"I'll have you know my grades are almost equal to Shuichi-kun's and Kaitou's, so watch who you're calling an idiot, jerk!" Akarui gloated with a hint of anger.

"Then can't you at least act smart?" Hiei raised an eyebrow as he smirked.

"Ha, ha, very funny. I hate acting like a brainiac out of school, so you'll just have to live with it. Anyway, now we have to somehow tell the others that I found you," Akarui gave Hiei a cold look when he questioned her logic.

"Now Yusuke said to either raise spirit energy or blow something up," Akarui muttered mostly to herself. Before she decided which one to do, Hiei had blown a huge crater in the ground near them. The force of the energy blew Akarui away. She was blown into Hiei actually. And after the dust cloud from the explosion cleared, the two noticed right away the position they were in. She was on top of him, eyes fluttering and her cheeks reddening. Hiei looked uncomfortable as he hurriedly pushed her off. She landed roughly on her rump a few feet away from Hiei.

"Ow, that wasn't very nice!" Akarui yelled once she got up from being pushed onto the ground.

"Well then, you shouldn't have fallen on me," Hiei retorted.

Akarui was still blushing, but she raised her voice. "Well it's your damn fault for making a crater in the ground! Your spirit energy was what blew me on to you in the first place!" she shot back.

"Well you should've stepped back," Hiei said simply.

"You-! You jerk!" Akarui tried to punch him, but he simply tilted his head to one side to avoid being hit. This just made Akarui even angrier, but she resisted what temptation she had to try and punch Hiei's brains out.

"I'll resist my temptation to kill you for awhile. I can't believe you're one of Shuichi-kun's friends." Akarui muttered. She sat down on a bench that managed to stay in tact.

"Hn." Hiei folded his arms and leaned against a tree.

Ten minutes had passed before everyone had reached the park again.

"Hey Akarui, has he been rude yet?" Yusuke asked, jokingly, not really expecting answer. Akarui looked up from where she was sitting.

"Rude? He's already insulted me about four times!" she growled. Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama sweatdropped.

"Geez, he didn't even insult me that much in ten minutes!" Kuwabara stated.

"Well, he probably doesn't like girls much." Yusuke grinned at a glaring Hiei. "Anyhow, let's get to the Hag's house."

Akarui walked over to Kurama, and pouted. "Shuichi-kun, Hiei was mean to me, and he entered my personal thoughts." She pretended to be emotionally scarred as she snuggled into Kurama. Kurama blushed slightly as she snuggled into his chest, but then turned to Hiei, Akarui still clinging.

"Hiei could you try to be polite to her and Yube? They're involved in our next mission." He said to his friend. Akarui smirked mischievously at Hiei. Hiei scowled and started walking away. Everyone else followed. They were going to Genkai's house.

As the group went up the stairway in front of Genkai's temple. Kuwabara walked up to Kurama's side. Yusuke was racing Yube and Akarui up the stairs and Hiei trailed at the tail of group.

"Hey Kurama, why were you blushing when Akarui snuggled into you?" Kuwabara asked curiously.

"Well, I suppose that is a fair question. I may be her friend, but I've never really been that close to her, so I was a tad embarrassed," Kurama scratched the back of his head.

"Are you sure that's it?" Kuwabara asked. Kurama nodded.

When they reached the top of the stairs, Yube and Akarui rushed ahead of the rest of the group, and to the front door. Akarui started knocking on the door, and by the time someone got irritated enough and came to answer it, everyone else had caught up to the girls. The one that answered the door was Kaitou.

"Hey Kaitou, why the hell are you here?" Yube asked curiously. Kaitou glanced amongst the group to make sure everyone was there. He waitied for everyone in the group to reach the doorway before answering.

"I was visiting Miss Genkai. Kido and Yana are here too. And the Grim Reaper has been waiting." he said, stepping aside to let them all inside.

"What? The Grim Reaper? Whoa, I'm too young and beautiful to die!" Yube said. She hadn't expected the Grim Reaper to be there. Akarui was freaking out too, when a blue haired lady wearing a pink kimono walked in, followed by an old lady with pale pink hair who was wearing some a sleeveless red kimono that had slits on the sides (for mobility?) over a long-sleeved white shirt and loose-fitting white pants.

"I'm not that scary, Akarui and Yube." The blue haired girl said her words happily. Both girls looked at the blue haired girl and blinked, confused.

"Oh, I'm the Grim Reaper! My name's Botan! And it's such a pleasure to meet surviving members of the Night Dragon Tribe!" the blue haired girl smiled.

"The Night Dragon Tribe?" Everyone in the room but Genkai, Kurama, and Hiei questioned.

"I'll explain for you. Night Dragon Tribe was a tribe of dragon demons that specialized in many ways of combat. Martial arts, weapons, and pretty much any technique. Ah yes, and they had an unbeatable artifact that looked like a staff." Botan explained a little.

"Dragon demons? So what the hell are you saying? That Akarui and I are both some sort of demon?" Yube put her hands on her hips and looked skeptically at Botan.

"Well, yes. That is what I'm saying," Botan answered simply.

Akarui blinked in confusion. "If that's true, then how come we didn't know that?" she asked.

"Well, seeing as you two are some of the only surviving members, Koenma and the rest of us in Spirit World were worried that your whole race would be extinct if we left you in the Makai. So you were sent to the human world in human bodies when you were infants." Botan explained more. Akarui and Yube glanced at one another, and then turned to look at everyone else in the room. All was quiet and a little uneasy.

"I see, so that explains their natural control over their spirit energy, correct?" Kurama looked to Botan.

Botan nodded, "Yes, that's it."

"Right, so what's the friggin' mission? I didn't search a quarter of the town for Hiei just to hear this!" Yusuke was losing what patience he had.

"Well Yusuke, the mission is to find the ancient artifact of the Night Dragon Tribe. In order to do that, you need a member of the tribe, and who better than some of the last members?" Botan said.

"Alright, so where's this artifact?" Kuwabara asked. Botan froze and thought. She shrugged and made a catty face. The others had mixed reactions between rolling eyes and shouting.

"Botan! Don't tell me you don't know!" Yusuke demanded.

"Fine then I won't. Besides, the two members of the dragons should be able to find it for you." She smiled at him. Apparently, Botan hadn't actually witnessed the hiding of the treasure. Akarui and Yube glanced at each other as if to ask the other if they knew where the artifact was, then they both shrugged.

"We don't know where it is." Yube with such a simple tone that the others felt like falling over in a particularly cartoonish manner.

Yusuke turned to the two girls. "What the flippin' hell do you mean, you don't know where it is? You're members of the tribe!" Yusuke yelled, obviously irritated that he could be enjoying himself in the city if he weren't there right now.

"Just what she said, WE DON'T KNOW!" Akarui barked back at Yusuke, just as irritated. Yube seemed to be thinking about it.

"Wait a minute; I might have a clue to where the artifact is!" Yube declared as everyone then glanced at her.

End Chapter 1

Next time- The two girls Yube and Akarui find out a little more about their clan's past. It involved a thousand-year war, pain, and suffering. What's this? Is Akarui falling for one of the YYH boys? Which one? And is one of the boys falling for or have already fallen for Akarui? Where's Yube's place in all this? Probably as the best friend of Akarui, teasing and taunting is in order? Find all this out in the next chapter of "The Bright Sunset and the Evening Moon".


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Mission of the Night Dragon Tribe, the Tragic War of the Past, and a Bath

"Well, let's hear it then, Yube!" Yusuke demanded. Everyone was sitting around a square table in Genkai's living room. Half of the group sat on floor pillows while others stood or leaned on a nearby wall.

"Fine… I get this strange feeling I know where it is, but I'm not sure. Anyway, I think it would be in the Makai." Yube announced her thoughts a little hesitantly. Akarui considered her friend's words.

"Well, that _would_ make sense. Seeing as we are of the dragon _demon_ tribe. I imagine it would be there." Akarui pointed out.

"Botan, is there a deadline for when this mission needs to be done?" Yusuke asked, remembering Koenma's record of not mentioning deadlines until it was about half way through.

"Not exactly, you just need to get the artifact before anyone else does, and then somehow destroy it." Botan replied.

"How is anyone else going to get the artifact before us?" Kurama started, but then put his genius brain to work. "Unless these two are the sole remaining members from the tribe, there may be a possibility of other survivors. And those survivors may also know where the artifact is… Is that right?" Kurama asked the bubbly reaper.

"I guess that could be, but that means that for the other's that desire the artifact would have to obtain one of these girls, or other survivors, to even reach the secret temple. And that brings up another part of the mission. You are all to protect the girls," Botan explained to everyone in the room.

"So, are Kido, Kaitou, and Yana planning on coming?" Kuwabara asked, looking in the direction of the three boys that had been listening the whole time.

"We considered it, but we've decided not to go along just in case the human world needs our help while you guys are in Makai." Kido answered.

"Oh, I get it. You guys wanna be the backup team." Kuwabara said.

"Sort of." Yana partially agreed, but he didn't like the idea of being called backup.

Hiei, who had been leaning against the wall this whole time, had chosen this moment to walk toward the doorway to leave. Akarui ran to the doorway and stopped in front of the small-statured demon.

"Hey, just where the hell are you going?" she demanded, aware that she was blocking the way.

"This mission doesn't concern me in any way, so I'm leaving." Hiei said simply and tried to walk by her, but she wouldn't have it. She extended her arms outward to block even the edges of the doorway.

"No way! You are not just walking away after we spent all that time looking for you! Especially not without apologizing for insulting me- or without a proper goodbye!" Akarui grabbed his wrist and dragged him back to the center of the room where everyone else was, and she pushed him down on one of the pillows by the table.

Hiei was about to get up and try to leave again, when Akarui sat down in his lap to keep him there. "If this is the only way to keep you here, I'll do it!" Akarui said sharply. She said this with a slight redness on her face. Hiei looked majorly annoyed by the snickering and laughing that escaped Yube, Yusuke, and Kuwabara.

"Hiei, I think she likes you, why else would she sit in your lap?" Yusuke teased.

"Spirit Detective, do you want to have your precious voice box torn out?" Hiei threatened Yusuke, still very annoyed. He was actually considering fulfilling the threat when Akarui breathed deeply.

"I DO NOT LIKE HIM YUSUKE! SO SHUT THE HELL UP!" Akarui yelled angrily at Yusuke, almost forgetting that she was supposed to stay sitting or Hiei would get away.

Yusuke prodded more. "Well, if you don't like him, why is your face all red?" he asked, pointing at her face.

Akarui's face just became even more of a brilliant red, "Oh, shut the hell up!" Akarui got up off of Hiei and sat down next to Kurama instead. Hiei didn't get up and leave this time. He just sat there, looking mischievously at Yusuke. Yusuke made an uneasy, nervous groan.

"Well, now that the theatricals are finished, let's all go to bed. I'm tired!" Yube got up and stretched.

Yube turned to Genkai and bowed. "Miss Genkai, could you please show me to a guest room available for tonight?" she asked as politely as she could.

"May I please have a room for the night as well?" Akarui got up and asked nicely. Genkai seemed impressed with how polite these girls seemed, and yet they hang around with Yusuke. But then again Kurama seemed to be a more familiar companion to the girls. It was almost hard to believe they had both been yelling at someone just moments ago.

"Alright girls, I'll show you two to some rooms, and Botan can get you a change of clothes for tomorrow." Genkai looked toward Botan, and then started leading the two girls down the hall to some bedrooms that were adjacent to one another.

Yube's room was nice and dark, had one bed big bed, and a table with a chair by a window with the curtains closed. The floor was wooden, but there were a few rugs, and the walls had little tapestries on them. Yube liked the room and plopped down on the bed after thanking Genkai.

Akarui's room was a little lighter on the color spectrum than Yube's room and the moon was shining in her window because of the open curtains. There was a nice cozy looking bed, a desk, a chair at the desk, and a book was sitting on the desktop. There was even a lamp and a digital clock next to the book.

Akarui walked over to the desk and picked up the book.

"What's this, Genkai?" she asked.

"An empty book with lines to write on, you can have it." Genkai said. Akarui blinked,

"Like a diary then?" she looked toward Genkai, the book still in hand.

"You could use it as one if you wanted. I forgot I even had that old thing." The old lady smiled and walked out of the room, after giving Akarui instructions on where the bathroom was if she needed to use it.

Akarui was alone in her room now, thinking about how the day had started out a simple day where she and her best friend planned on skipping school and having fun all day. Then the day had turned into some big search for a short guy in black, and a mission to the Makai, and a discovery that she and her friend weren't even ningen. She sat down at the chair by the table and turned on the light. Then Akarui started writing in the diary:

_Dear Diary,_

_My name is Akarui Yuyake, and today I found out some things I probably would've never suspected. _

_I'm a demon._

_Demons are real. _

_Shuichi-kun has a nickname… _

_Oh well, anyway I'll tell the story, I'm bored as hell anyway._

_But first a bit more about me. I'm 15, going on 16 and I am 5ft 4in tall. I live with my "father." Actually he's my stepfather, my mother had married my real father a while ago obviously, but he died two years ago. Then last month my mother died a year after getting re-married. My stepfather is abusive of me. He tells me horrible things that he wants to do to me… whether it's sexual or violent… He says he hates the look in my eyes. Not that I know what he's talking about, I don't purposely give him dirty looks. I've learned not to do that by now. But I'm pretty sure he's paranoid about it. I absolutely loathe that man. But as much as I hate him, I can't afford to live on my own yet. So even though I hate it… I need him. And that's why I hide away at Yube's house so much. _

_Yube is my best friend. She's like the sister I never got to have. When she was younger, her parents died in a car crash and she was taken in by her grandfather. But he is often traveling to various locations around the world, so it's almost like Yube lives alone. _

_Anyway, enough about my pitiful life. On to the daily forecast…_

_It all started today when Yube and I were skipping school and went to the arcade. When we were leaving the arcade a few hours later, we ran into Yusuke Urameshi, Kazuma Kuwa'baka', and Shuichi Minamino-kun. We didn't make the best first impression ever on Yusuke... so later he tracked us down to demand an apology since Shuichi-kun wouldn't let him beat the shit out of us. Not like Urameshi would stand a chance anyway, but whatever. He found us, and we apologized (because Shuichi-kun asked so nicely), and talked for awhile… until a floating toddler popped up out of nowhere._

_The toddler told us to go to Genkai's temple (whichi is where I am now) after finding some guy named Hiei who turned out to be an incredibly HOT jerk! But still, I don't think he hates me, I think he just hates girls in general… maybe he's… nah._

_Anyway, Hiei is shorter than me, which is kind of strange. It's not only his height I find strange. That just makes me feel tall, and I like that. I'm usually shorter than the boys I meet. Anyway, he has these amazing red eyes that seem to pierce my mind whenever I look at them. Ah and his hair is black and spiky, in a way that ignores the laws of physics. He wears a white bandana on his forehead for some reason… and he wears pretty much all black. Wonder if he's into the Goth or Visual Kei style..._

_Hiei doesn't seem to like talking too much though, but he insults people without hesitation. He insulted me nearly four times in only the first ten minutes he knew me! God, I tried to punch him too, but he avoided the attack so easily. It was amazing, but it made me feel weak, and I don't like that feeling…_

_Anywho, right now I'm in a guestroom at Genkai's temple. I've had far too much going on with Hiei today. It's been so embarrassing, but at least he hasn't killed me, right? ^-^;_

_Time for sleep now. End Entry… ._

Akarui finished the last sentence, then closed the diary and plopped down on her bed. She was sound asleep in a few minutes. The digital clock read '9:56 PM' She slept undisturbed all night.

Back in the living room, Yusuke and the crew were starting to get tired as well. Botan had left. A few of them started heading to other guestrooms and practically fainted on their respective beds. (Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kido, and Yana are part of that group) Kurama, Genkai and Kaitou decided to devise strategies just in case something dire came up. Hiei went outside and sat down on a tree branch while leaning his back against the tree. He soon drifted off into his own world of dreams.

That night Yube and Akarui had the same dream. It was about the Night Dragon Tribe. Their past.

_There were a whole bunch of people with varying types and colors of claws, wings, fangs, tails, small horns on top of their heads. Each had his or her own special techniques or abilities. All of them must've been dragon demons. But they still strongly resembled humans… a sort of humanoid demon.._

_The dragon demons, young and old, were roaming around in a seemingly never-ending meadow filled with homes and hills as far as the eye could see. Going about daily business seemed to be the goal of the demons. There were many trees, each greener and more filler than the last. But then something strange happened; the land suddenly ignited into flames!_

_Everyone panicked! Where had the attack come from? And why? The stronger dragons immediately retaliated. Those with the most powerful flames or claws were sent to find and destroy the attackers. And they learned very quickly who was responsible for the heinous attack, a group of black dragons stood in the open field. They basked in the flames that were as black as their hearts. Among the dragons stood a man; he seemed to be the leader._

_The leader of the enemy was a tall, thin man. He had long black hair, glowing green eyes, and his body was surrounded with a subtle black aura. He wore a pendant of some kind; it stood out for some reason too. This man threw his head back in laughter. He took pleasure in the pain and suffering or the dragons. The dragons fought among themselves, always ending in a stalemate. This led to an all out war!_

_The war had waged on for a thousand years. Nearly everyone in the clan of dragon demons had died, even those on the enemy's side, when finally, the elder of the shattered tribe stepped up._

"_I know that they seek the artifact, but if they get it within their grasp, the power could aid them in anything that they may need it for, whether it is for good or evil use. I must hide the artifact... I'm sorry, young ones, for putting you two at risk, but Teki will never find it within you."_

_The elder walked over to two Night Dragon babies; a tall white staff with a bright light atop it appeared over the infants. The light and the staff split into two pieces and each half went into one of the babies._

_A black haired girl, floating on an oar, appeared before the elder of the clan. "Have you done as you needed with these two? And are they the last group of babies to send off?" the girl asked._

"_Yes, yes, now hurry and take them to the safe realm of humans! Teki will arrive at any moment!" the elder commanded of the girl. The girl nodded, and picked both of the babies up and quickly flew off with them in her arms._

_Once the girl left, the elder turned around to face a dark figure that had burst into the doorway of the sacred realm._

"_Ah, Elder Linkai. It's been a while. Where have you hidden the staff? Tell me or there will be dire consequences." The man said this as he walked closer to the elder. _

"_I will not unveil to you where the staff is, I would sooner die!" he yelled angrily._

"_I suppose I could aid you in that decision, farewell old fool!" The man seemed to disappear and then reappear behind the elder before anyone could even blink. And just as quickly as he'd moved, his clawed hand had punctured the elder's stomach and was dripping with blood. The elder widened his eyes in pain and shock._

"_It is to be as the prophecy stated. Be warned Teki, the remainder of the clan will cleanse you, I swear." He said his dying words and collapsed on the ground. His eyes had tears welling in them. And as his breathing ceased, a teardrop hit the floor._

"_That would be true, old fool, if there were any remainders from your tribe." Teki laughed at what he thought was a senile fool._

_Then the dream showed the next image. The girl that had taken the two babies away was now in a room talking to the toddler from earlier that day._

"_Koenma sir, here are the two remaining members of the Night Dragon Tribe." she bowed, holding out the two infants._

"_Good job Ayame, we'll send them to the human world along with the other three, as promised." Koenma sounded like he wished the horrific genocide hadn't taken place. The black haired girl, now revealed to be Ayame, nodded with serious eyes, and then she stood up again and left the room._

_The next images playing through the girl's heads in the dream were images of them when they first met, went to school, got older, and finally reached today. The same events played through their heads._

Akarui bolted up instantly when her dream ended. She was sweating a lot. _What the hell was that? God, I've never had a dream like that before…_ she thought to herself. Then a knock came from the door.

"Akarui, it's time to wake up, breakfast is almost ready," said the voice of Kurama.

"Alright Shuichi-kun, I'm up." Akarui called back to Kurama as he patiently waited outside the door. Akarui noticed that there were some nice, clean looking clothes sitting on the chair in her room. She got up slowly and tiredly. She changed into the black shorts, and the red tank top, which was a little short, so it showed off some her pale stomach. Then she walked down the hall to the bathroom to brush her black hair and pull it back in her trademark ponytail. She also put on some nice black slip on shoes she found down the hall a little bit.

At the breakfast table, Yusuke and Kuwabara were arguing over who should get the last oni-giri, but Yube just grabbed it and shoved into her mouth with a triumphant smirk on her face. Then Yusuke and Kuwabara both started arguing with Yube. Once she yelled, they were all yelling at each other until Akarui walked into the room.

"Good morning Akarui, how'd ya sleep last night?" Yusuke asked, now forgetting about the oni-giri.

"I had the strangest dream, but I think it had to do with the Night Dragon Tribe." Akarui yawned and quietly sat down in a chair next to Kurama and Yube.

"What about them?" Yusuke asked, now very curious.

"I think it was something to do with where the artifact's hidden. There were lights and a staff… And then there wasn't a staff, but there were two little babies. I don't remember the rest perfectly clearly." Akarui told the group, exhibiting the classic signs of forgetting meaningful dreams once she woke up.

Yube nodded, "Wow, talk about share dreams, eh? I had the same dream last night, and I'm wagering that those two infants were other members of the tribe, possibly the answer to where the artifact is, which means it would be in the human world, not the Makai." Yube guessed.

Akarui agreed with her friend. "That's true, they were brought to the human world in the end of the dream."

Yube nodded again, "Well, then should we search the human world?"

"Realize if that is right, those two could be anywhere on the freakin' Earth!" Yusuke pointed out.

"That hadn't crossed my mind." Akarui said this in a thoughtful tone and then she frowned.

"Well, we need to have some way to track down the ones that hold the staff within them," Kurama added his thoughts.

"But how? We don't even know who they are!" Kuwabara spoke up.

"Good point, so why don't we ask Koenma about this later, and just hang around for awhile?" Yusuke suggested as he leaned back to relax. Everyone nodded, not being able to think of anything better to do.

Yube went to the living room and turned on the television to watch the news after breakfast. Akarui watched a little TV too, but then she decided to go venture around outside. Kurama volunteered to come with her if she wanted, but she politely declined, much to his disappointment. Yusuke, Kaitou, Kido, Yana, and Kuwabara also joined them in watching the news.

Akarui had walked out the front doors and was now looking around at the trees and bushes in the area. "Wow, this place is really nice when you're not in a hurry to meet the Grim Reaper!" she smiled as she talked to herself. She was walking around and had gone to the 'backyard' of the temple.

There was a large grassy plain that was cut off by the beginning of the forest around it. Akarui saw a few flowers sprouting and some butterflies fluttering around. Then a concentration of black caught her eyes as she looked at one of the trees. As she focused, she realized it was Hiei sleeping up there. Akarui smiled,

"Awwww… Cute!" She squealed. She climbed up on to the branch that Hiei was sleeping on and bent over him.

_He's even cuter in his sleep, and he won't get to insult me until he wakes up, this is perfect._ She kept her thoughts quietly in her mind. She then noticed some movement behind her, and she tried to turn around a little but the branch was narrow and she wasn't the most graceful person in the world at that moment so she lost balance and fell down to the ground with a loud thud.

"Whoa! Wahhhhhhh!" She had landed on her back and now was very uncomfortable. Though she found herself fortunate to have not broken anything.

She looked back up at the tree as she sat up, Hiei had woken up.

"When I need an alarm, I'll tell you. Now what are you doing out here?" The fire demon posed his question with an irritated tone.

"Well, I came out here because I wanted to look around, and I just happened to come across you sleeping there. You don't exactly look like bloodthirsty or murderous in your sleep… I kind of liked it!" Akarui smiled at her last sentence, as Hiei looked uncomfortable with the fact that someone had been watching him sleep without his knowing.

"Anyway, why were you sleeping in the tree? Didn't Genkai offer you a room?" Akarui sat down under the tree shade and leaned against the trunk.

"Hn, I sleep where I please, stupid dragon girl." Hiei replied.

"Oh, you chose to? Must be comfy up there, I wanna try it out!" Akarui instantly stood up and jumped up to the branch that Hiei was on, surprising the demon and nearly pushing him off the branch. She sat down in the exact spot and position that she had recently seen Hiei in moments earlier.

"Wow, this is cozy, maybe I'll sleep here tonight!" Akarui smiled as she closed her eyes and relaxed.

"Get out of my tree." Hiei demanded as he stood next to her on the branch.

Akarui opened one eye; she felt like reverting back to her punk attitude for this. "There's only one way to make me do that. What do I get?" She asked, trying to barter with Hiei.

"You get to keep your arms." Hiei said, reaching for his sword. Thinking quickly under stress, Akarui said something that stopped him.

"You wouldn't want to kill an endangered species would you? You'd probably get in a lot of trouble with the Spirit World, and you'd probably be sentenced to do something you hate, like spending time with humans 24/7. What about that punishment?" She winked at him at her suggestion.

Hiei frowned, sighed, and then sat down on the branch.

"Then move over." he said.

Akarui blinked, confused. _Is he actually listening to me? What is wrong with him? Is he feverish or is he trying to be nice? _She wondered.

Hiei looked at her, "I don't have a fever, I'm not being nice, and don't even think that I like you. The only reason I'm not pushing you to the ground is because if I did, you'd most likely pull me down with you." His eyes narrowed at her before he closed them. Akarui blinked, realizing that he'd read her mind again.

"Hiei, how can you read minds? Could I learn how to?" she asked curiously.

"I can hear some of your thoughts. And it's because of this." Hiei pointed at his forehead.

Akarui apparently didn't get it, because she asked, "Your brain or your bandana? I can't tell what you're pointing at." Hiei sighed and shook his head, thinking she was only slightly above Kuwabara in IQ. He started to take off the bandana from his forehead.

"No moron, the Jagan," Hiei said, pointing to the third eye that Akarui was now staring at. The eye looked like a normal eye except that it was on his forehead and the iris was purple.

"Whoa, freaky cool!" Akarui smiled. "Where'd you get this? Is it real? Can I poke it?" she started bombarding him with questions.

"None of your business, yes, and no," Hiei answered her questions in order.

She frowned. "But it's just so tempting…!" she declared. Without waiting for an answer, Akarui poked the third eye and Hiei instantly felt a pain in that eye and almost fell backward off of the branch, only to catch himself.

"Oh god, calm down. Even if it did hurt that much, you have two more." Akarui waved her hand, excusing the matter at hand. Hiei glared at her and tied the bandana back on his forehead. Akarui leaned on him a little.

"Stop leaning on me, if you're going to lean, lean the other way," Hiei told her, getting irritated again. Akarui leaned closer to him, with a freaked out expression on her face accompanied by a small squeak. She even clutched his arm with one of her own.

"What's your problem? Let go!" Hiei tried to steal his arm back.

"Sp-sp-sp-spi-spider! Big hairy spider crawling on my arm!" Akarui stammered, still freaking out. She looked pretty strange trying to cling to Hiei with one arm while trying to distance herself from her other arm.

Hiei was dumbstruck. "Squash it and stop clinging to me!" he demanded. Akarui wasn't listening. She blew on the spider, hoping to blow it off. It didn't work, the spider only moved even more up her arm and was soon crawling into her shirt which made her explode with fear. She screamed and leaned so far onto Hiei that he fell out of the tree with her hugging onto him.

When they hit the ground, Hiei under her, the spider crawled out of Akarui's shorts and off it went to freak out another girl with arachnophobia. Akarui was still kind of panicky, and Hiei was as red as flames from Hell. (An expression I like.)

"Get off of me." Hiei said this with difficulty because of Akarui putting her head right under his chin, restricting his jaw movement just slightly. Akarui opened her eyes and blushed, realizing that she was once again on Hiei for the third time since they met.

"Sorry! I have a fear of big hairy spiders!" Akarui apologized, loosening her grip on Hiei.

"I noticed…" Hiei seemed really uncomfortable. She was trying to get up, but she blinked and saw something out of the corner of her eye again, then she froze, trying to find out what and where.

(You could probably imagine Hiei just stuck there on the ground with a girl he's only known for a day staring at the scenery around you while trying to get off of you from some bizarre spider incident. Pretty funny, right? I thought so too. .)

Hiei cleared his throat to get her attention, "Could you get off NOW?" The question had sounded more like a command.

"Huh? Oh, sorry!" Akarui snapped back into reality and blushed again. Then she got up and dusted herself off. Hiei instantly got up, too, and looked at Akarui like she was even dumber than he thought before.

"You idiot, how can you be a demon when you have a fear of spiders? Idiot dragon girl, do what you want here, I'm leaving." Hiei said, putting his hands to his sides and walking away.

Akarui looked angry, "No way! You're not going anywhere after calling me an idiot two times in one section of dialogue!" She yelled, attacking him from behind with a punch, which he blocked with one hand.

"You seem to be very brave when it comes to fighting, unless you're opponent is a spider," Hiei said smugly.

"Oh, you're paying for that comment, you bastard!" Akarui yelled at him and attacked again.

Hiei blocked another punch and kick combo from her. Their fight continued for a minute or two. Akarui kept throwing punches and kicks that were easily blocked by Hiei, who hadn't countered yet. Akarui then tried to surprise him with a huge blast of reiki, which caught him off guard, and singed his hair a bit. Hiei figured that since Akarui had reiki, she might actually be a great opponent to pass the time with, even if he wasn't trying.

Hiei soon tired of the continuous pattern of Akarui's attacks and he punched her in the gut. The impact sent her flying into the tree that they had fought over earlier. Akarui had lost the fight, and she was lying down on the ground, on her back, breathing hard.

Hiei was about to walk away when Akarui called to him.

"Hiei! Get back here and help me up! Please! I'll give you something rare and valuable!" she had called out. Hiei stopped to consider it and then walked back over to her,

"What is this item that you're bribing me with?" He looked down at her from where he stood.

"Something rare and valuable, just like I said. It could range from a baseball card, to a pile of gold, to a secret of ultimate power." She stayed on the ground and looked up at him. Hiei seemed interested, and he reluctantly offered a hand to aid her.

Akarui grabbed his hand and was pulled to her feet. Then when she finished dusting herself off again, Hiei was standing there, looking expectantly at her. She smiled and faced him.

"I suppose you want to know what I was going to give you, right?" Her question pierced the brief silence. Hiei said nothing and continued to stare at her. Akarui laughed to herself and gave him the rare and valuable thing.

She had just given Hiei a kiss at the edge of his lips, as if she wasn't sure whether to go for his cheek or his lips, she settled for a happy medium. Hiei had a trace of redness on his face in addition to a look of shock. Akarui simply smiled and started heading off to the front of the temple. Hiei stopped her by grabbing her arm.

"How the hell was that 'rare and valuable?'" She just grinned as he demanded her answer.

"Well, it's rare because I've never kissed a boy before, and it's valuable because I'll probably never do it again, so it's one-of-a-kind!" She explained with a wagging finger. Hiei was still blushing a bit as she laughed again and walked off. He just stood there, his hand where she had kissed him. Suddenly, he realized that he was holding his hand there and started rubbing at it like it was a deadly disease that could be purged only by rubbing away the filth.

Akarui smiled to herself as she re-entered the temple. But she sweatdropped as she noticed that Yube was running around with a cookie jar with Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Yana running after her yelling to return it to them. She sat down next to Kaitou, Kurama, and Kido on the couch and watched the free entertainment.

Kurama looked at Akarui. "Ah, you're back. Where did you wander off to?" He asked with a smile.

"Oh Shuichi-kun, I was just talking to Hiei, and he called me an idiot, I got mad, and we started fighting, I lost." Akarui gave the basic play-by-play.

"Why do you insist on fighting with Hiei? You might get yourself hurt," Kurama said, putting an arm around Akarui's shoulders. Akarui blinked at Kurama's action, but didn't really mind it. She welcomed hi warm gestures because she knew he always had pure interests.

"I can stand up to him, and someday I'll beat him!" Akarui smiled at Kurama with her answer. Kurama sighed and shook his head. He stubbornness was one to behold.

Later on, everything had calmed down and Yube was sitting down on the couch after a few hours of being hyper on sugar, and literally bouncing off the ceiling and walls. (She had too many cookies from the jar.)

"Yube, how you can stay slim after eating that many cookies is beyond the laws of physics. How do you explain it?" Yusuke noticed that Yube hadn't seemed to gain any weight just by glancing. Of course, it had only been about fifteen minutes since she finished eating the cookies. Yusuke seemed to expect some sort of cartoon weight gain in which Yube would look like a blimp.

"Okay. One, I have a fast metabolism. Two, I exercise. And three, YOU SHOULDN'T BE GAWKING AT MY FIGURE YOU PERVERTED ASS!" Yube yelled at him and punched his head hard enough to send him to the ground.

Kuwabara poked at Yusuke's head, "I think he's dead."

"Not dead, just in pain…" Yusuke corrected, sounding a bit fuddled.

Kido, Kaitou, and Yana had all headed off to the kitchen to get a snack, so that left Yube, Kurama, Akarui, and Kuwabara in the living room. They were watching some game show on TV. The show was called "The Newlywed Game." (I love that show, it's hilarious!) One of the guys on the show had just said, "My wife would not get first place in a driving contest, but she would get last place in a beauty contest." Akarui and Yube shook their heads.

"That guy's gonna get slaughtered once his wife finds out that he said that," Yube stated.

"Or just thrown outside. Otherwise, I sense a divorce between them." Akarui added on to Yube's statement.

Just then Hiei had walked in the room. Akarui noticed and asked Kurama to scoot over a bit. "Hiei, you can sit over here. We're watching guys say stuff about their wives." Akarui told the fire demon. Hiei blushed a little, still thinking about earlier and sat down next to Akarui reluctantly. Kurama frowned at this display. (My, my, I sense a triangle forming. -^.^-) Yube tapped Akarui's shoulder.

"What, Yube?" Akarui asked quietly so everyone else could still hear the show.

"Are you crushing on Hiei?" she whispered with a grin.

"Huh? Uh… can't we talk about this later?" Akarui blushed and nervously answered in a hushed voice.

"That's a yes. But haven't you noticed that Shuichi has been trying to get your attention all day?" Yube asked.

"He has? Whoa! Does that mean he likes me?" Akarui whispered back with a surprised tone.

Yube nodded, "Yup, and unless it's just puppy love, he's going to be so sad when he deduces that you like Hiei." Yube shook her head, but then looked up and gave a look that means they would finish this discussion later. Akarui got the picture and went back to watching the show.

Throughout the show, Yube and Akarui had laughed at the wives reactions to what the husbands had said about them. Yusuke and Kuwabara were laughing too, and going on about how much trouble that guy was in. Kurama had been glancing between the TV and Akarui, as was Hiei. (Hiei was also glancing back and forth, just not as frequently). Kido, Kaitou, and Yana had eventually left the temple saying that their mothers probably wanted them home about then, but they would try to be back tomorrow. Genkai was somewhere all day, but no one really knew where and didn't bother to look either.

Once the show was over, Akarui and Yube stood up.

"We're gonna go relax in the bath, no peeping." Yube grabbed Akarui's arm and dragged her off. The guys blinked, well it seemed the girls wanted to talk about something… maybe they should listen in. Thus is the way the mind of the adolescent male works.

Yusuke glanced at Kuwabara, who nodded that they should listen. They glanced at Kurama who shook his head no.

"Aw, come on Kurama! If you don't come with us, you know it's just gonna end up with us going and you coming along trying to stop us, but then you'll get interested in what they say and listen too." Yusuke gave the basic play-by-play of what he thought was most likely to happen.

Kuwabara nodded, "Yeah, that's pretty much how these things go all the time." Kurama sighed and got up.

"I suppose you're right this time." Kurama said, glancing at Hiei. "Coming, Hiei?" he asked. Hiei gave Kurama a 'What do you think?' look.

"Do you honestly think I'd go along to peep on pathetic dragon girls and listen to whatever it is they talk about? Besides, I already know what goes through the mind of the one called Akarui." Hiei folded his arms stubbornly and didn't look like he was going to budge.

Yusuke shrugged and said, "Alright, suit yourself. We're gonna go listen."

After the other three had left the room, Hiei had stood up and vanished, then reappeared in a tree near the open air bath. _Then again, Akarui seems to think about me a lot, so she and her friend are probably going to mention me, and that gives me a possible right to listen in, _he thought to himself. The tree he stood in had many branches covered in foliage and those factors prevented anyone from seeing him, while he could see anyone in or around the hot spring.

(A/N: I don't really know whether or not Genkai has an open air bath in her temple, but if she didn't, she does now! Besides, this means more humor! Oh and the bath is... well, it is outside, but in the middle of the temple with a fence around it. A door in the temple leads to something of a courtyard with a bath in it. That's it. Just trying to help with the imagination! ^^;)

Yube and Akarui were both wrapped in towels and had just sat down in the hot spring. Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama had positioned themselves outside the door to listen in. Hiei was crouching on the tree branch right next to the fence, also getting ready to listen.

"Yube? Weren't you going to finish interrogating me?" Akarui asked her friend while rinsing her own arm. It had been five whole minutes since they started their bath and it had all been silent so far.

Yube grinned, "Well, if you want me to." She and Akarui then started talking about the topic that had been brought up earlier.

"So, you really think he- you know likes me? I mean, I hadn't noticed. I was paying attention to short, dark, and hot," Akarui blushed a little.

"You really like him don't you? I just imagine how your admirer would react to hearing that," Yube said with her eyes closed. Her sigh did not put Akarui's mind at ease.

Akarui frowned, "You sure know how to make me feel guilty! So you're saying that I should go with him instead?" Akarui glanced at Yube questioningly. Yube shook her head,

"No, I'm not saying that. But I will say you should follow your heart, and no matter how cheesy it sounds, you should obey these wise words," Yube said while playing around with her silver streaked hair. Akarui was thinking about it.

"Who are they talking about?" Kuwabara asked as he put his ear up to the door.

"I have no clue, but they're obviously talking about boys. I heard something about 'him' and 'short, dark, and hot'. Think Hiei's the short and dark one?" Yusuke looked toward Kurama curiously. Kurama seemed to be listening intently beyond noticing Yusuke's glance in his direction.

"Probably is, she does seem to like him a bit." Kuwabara stated, answering for Kurama. They went back to silently listening.

_Who the hell are they talking about? 'Him and 'short, dark, and hot? I have no clue why they'd be using codenames like that… Unless they know that everyone's spying on them. _Hiei thought to himself. _Perhaps they get the sense they're being watched, or they're scared to say the names. Or maybe they're just morons that don't know the names of the people they're talking about. Forget this, I'll tune in to their minds, it's easier to understand that way._

"So, Yube? You got any guys that I should know about?" Akarui asked, looking at her friend slyly.

"Nope." Yube answered plainly.

"You're no fun!" Akarui said. Akarui then started a little chant that went like 'Yube no fun!' Yube no fun!'

_I wonder who should I try to get together with? Yube gave me no specific answer and half of me is nearly screaming Hiei. But the other half is yelling out Shuichi-kun… Man, I am such a two-timer before I even get my first official boyfriend! What if this indecision doesn't subside soon? I'll just end up hurting someone…_ Akarui thought about her options. On one hand, she could go with Hiei and hurt Kurama. On the other hand, she could go with Kurama and possibly hurt Hiei. She wasn't sure if Hiei would actually be hurt.

Hiei's face reddened as he read these thoughts. _What? She's debating between me and Kurama? Stupid dragon girl, it's obvious what her answer will end up being. Nobody has ever dared to get that close to me, and I don't need it, let alone, want it. I don't understand why she would even like me in the first place, I treat her so badly that I would expect the same back. But- that smile she always has on when she's talking to me…_ Hiei's thoughts were clearly stated on his face as he thought about this. He went back to listening once Yube spoke up again.

"So Akarui, I think I have an idea to help you choose." Yube looked at her thinking friend who soon snapped back into reality.

"Huh? How?" Akarui looked at her friend frantically.

"Make a list of pros and cons, see what they're willing to go through to have you, and other such things." Yube suggested.

Akarui blinked after momentary consideration. "But suppose the results don't follow what my heart does?" she asked.

"Then don't do those tests and just think long and hard about it, see how right it feels to kiss them, to hold them, to be with them." Yube snuck another suggestion in with her reply and even a little taunting in her motions.

Akarui blushed madly. "What?" she demanded, but then paused for a second and calmed a bit, "Well, I suppose that'd help aid the decision. I've already kissed one of them as a joke around thing." Akarui smiled.

"No, no, no. It must be a real kiss, long passionate, R-rated lip-lock!" Yube grinned. Akarui blushed even more.

"You're just loving this aren't you!" Akarui raised her voice. Yube grinned more,

"Yes, I am enjoying this. Oh, and I wasn't kidding; according to every teen girl magazine I've ever read, it depends on the feeling of the kiss." Yube stated.

"How is it you've never had a boyfriend, yet you know all this stuff, and it actually works?" Akarui asked suspiciously.

Yube shrugged, "Teen magazines?"

Akarui closed her eyes and sighed, "Well, I'm about ready to head back to my room. I guess I'll get dressed now," Akarui said, getting out of the steaming bath and beginning to remove the towel from her body.

_This is when I leave, _Hiei thought. He tried to get up from his crouched position, but part of his cloak was caught on the tree. Silently, he pulled at it and when the tree let go he fell backwards and out of the tree. He landed painfully on the ground, right in front of Akarui.

Akarui was looking down, the towel still in her hands, but not covering quite everything… Hiei blinked and looked up from his position on the ground. His face instantly went red and strangely matched his eyes. Akarui was frozen there with embarrassment. Yube walked over to see what her friend was freaking out about on that side of the small yard. Once she made her way through the steam she saw Akarui looking down..

When Yube saw Hiei there on the ground with a red face, she smirked and knelt down.

"Is Hiei being a naughty boy?" She grinned mischievously and patted Hiei's head as she said this.

"Hell no!" Hiei glared up at Yube, who happened to be standing there in a green swimsuit.

Akarui started to back away slowly with her red face. Yube was honestly surprised there was any blood left for her limbs because of how red her face was. Akarui seemed to be shrinking away as she kept backing up. She then tripped over a rock behind her and fell down clumsily. Yube walked over to Akarui and helped her up.

"Ah, the 'embarrassed to have someone see you with no clothes on' reaction! A classic! But really, Aka, go kiss your man!" Yube said quietly to Akarui and pushed her forward and onto Hiei.

Both Hiei and Akarui were as red as they'd ever been in their entire lives. Both were so embarrassed that they were frozen in place. Yube was laughing a bit as she was opening the door to the hallway to leave.

When Yube opened that door, there were Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama, who were sitting against the wall across the hall. She closed the door behind her as she knelt down to face the boys.

"What'cha all doin' here? Hmmm?" Yube asked suspiciously.

Yusuke sighed, "Well, we were going to try and listen in on your conversation but we couldn't catch much of it, not even Kurama with his keen hearing could quite catch it. How big is that yard?" the detective looked curiously at Yube.

Yube smiled. "Well-" then an angry look crossed her face, "YOU SHOULDN'T EVEN BE SPYING ON US! YOU PERVERTED SICKO! NOW I SUGGEST YOU START RUNNING!" she yelled at all three boys, after looking at Kurama in disappointment. The chase started.

Back in the room with the hot spring, Akarui and Hiei had at last regained the ability to move their muscles. Akarui panicked and jumped off of him. Hiei stood up and was looking at the ground with a severely red face, and his bangs covered his eyes.

"S-s-sor-sorry about th-that… er-… Yube p-p-pushed me and you know…" Akarui trailed off in embarrassment as she wrapped the towel around herself again.

"I saw… and, I'll just be leaving now, you're not going to stop me from leaving this time are you?" Hiei cast a glare at the wall since he didn't dare look at her.

"No, I'm not going to stop you, now go!" she said nervously with a slight squeal in her voice, and pointed to the door. Hiei started walking toward the door, and then he stopped right in front of it, and spoke up without facing her.

"You should eat a bit more, you know, so you don't starve to death…" he told her with a trace of red still on his face. He left the room, closing the door behind himself.

Akarui had her mouth agape. _What the hell? He gave me advice on my figure…? That means he thinks I'm too skinny… right? That would mean he was looking at me! But why would he even care, I just exercise a lot… I suppose I did barf up a couple pounds yesterday because of that punch to the gut from Yube, but still it's not like I'm anorexic! _Akarui thought to herself.

"No! No! No! No! No!" Akarui panicked and then remembered that she was still only in just a towel, then she walked over to a corner in the room where she had put her clothes and got dressed.

When Yube had stopped chasing the boys around with a giant mallet made of spirit energy she had plopped down in her room and fallen right asleep. The three she had been chasing for a few non-stop hours were also tired and fell right asleep, after much explaining on Kurama's part. Akarui was in bed just staring at the ceiling, with redness still covering her face. Hiei was sitting in a tree outside Akarui's bedroom watching Akarui.

In Akarui's bedroom, she was thinking frantically about what had happened, she was really freaked out and her mind was feeling all messed up.

_God, that was friggin' embarrassing! I'm never letting Yube behind me again when a guy's around! Never! Hiei didn't seem too comfortable either, so he'll probably just hate me more tomorrow… Damn, I don't want him to hate me, but I guess I would have better luck with Shuichi-kun… Who knows? Maybe I'll someday be Mrs. Minamino or Mrs.-Mrs.… What IS Hiei's last name anyway…? Oh hell, why am I even thinking this? Dammit heart! Make up your friggin' mind! I can't even concentrate… At least this mission will get this junk out of my mind. We leave tomorrow after all, wherever it is we're going._

As Akarui thought all this, Hiei was reading every word of it. (Next paragraph is Hiei. I think I'll have some fun with his thoughts. ^_^)

_So, that's her reaction to the... events this evening? No matter how uncomfortable she seems to think I was, it wasn't the worse thing I've ever been through… and I just can't hate her, no matter how much I'm attempting… What the hell is wrong with me! It's those damn ningen emotions! They must be contagious. I don't even know why I'm out here watching her! Even if I get the strange feeling that if I left this spot something bad would befall her. Why would I care? Not like she's MY responsibility anyway, she's that detective's problem._

**A/N**: I'm giving Hiei a conscience that bugs him…

**EDIT:** Wow, I was a silly kid! But I'm keeping the conscience because I would have to change too much…

_(That's not true Hiei…) What the hell? (That's not true Hiei…) I heard what was said, I was wondering what was saying it, where are you? (I'm your conscience speaking. I'm speaking because you have some serious denial. And at that stage it's very necessary for a conscience to be created in your mind.) So, if you were created in my mind, you can be destroyed in my mind, right? (Yes, I suppose I could. But on the other topic… YOU LOVE AKARUI! NYA NYA!) Shut the hell up! (No, it's true, you do love her! You liked what you saw at the hot spring! It's all true! Muahahahaha!) You're really annoying, go away. (Never! You cannot get rid of almighty, Bob! The conscience!) You said I could destroy you in my mind, right? (Yes… why?) Meet your painful death, Bob! (*Is mentally stabbed with millions of sharp and pointy objects* Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!) Heh heh, Moron._

Hiei smirked as his conscience screamed out in mental pain. Hiei realized soon that he was just arguing with a voice in his head.

"Alright, nobody will ever hear of this…" he muttered to himself. He glanced up again in the window of Akarui's room, she had fallen asleep. Hiei actually smiled and began to drift off into his own little dreamland.

End Chapter 2

Next time- Akarui, Yube, Kurama, Hiei, Yusuke, and Kuwabara set out to the Reikai, to find out exactly what to do in their mission. Koenma tells them that they still need to go to the Makai. Why? So they go to Makai with three more people in the group. Wait! Then the group is somehow separated into small groups? Akarui and Hiei obviously get stuck together, but who is this new dark figure that appeared in front of them? And what's with these dragon statues and inscriptions? What! Akarui is kidnapped? Oh god, you probably don't want to miss this! Next time on "The Bright Sunset, and the Evening Moon". Hurry and save Akarui!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Into Makai We Go! Hold on, Where Are the Others, and Who's This Guy?

"Alright Botan! We're hurrying! Just shut up!" Yusuke yelled as Botan pushed the group down a hall and to the doors at Koenma's office.

It was the next day, and an angry, screaming Botan had woken the entire gang. Everyone except Kurama and Hiei looked tired. Akarui and Yube were yawning heavily and looked like they could plop down at any moment. Yube almost had fallen once, but was steadied by a kind hand from Kurama. Yusuke and Kuwabara were both growing more impatient by the constant complaining in addition to losing precious sleep. And to top it off, the group was waiting in the hallways of Koenma's palace. They'd been there for twenty minutes, waiting for Koenma to open the door to his office.

Finally, the door creaked open with a touch of hesitation. They all entered the office and Koenma was sitting in his chair, looking expectantly at the doorway. Botan closed the doors behind them.

"Welcome everyone, I suppose you're all wondering why you were brought here this early?" Koenma questioned the group.

"No we're not the least bit curious…" Yube declared sarcastically after a loud yawn. Koenma either hadn't detected the sarcasm or had chosen to ignore it.

"Good, that saves me from explaining." Koenma said this with what would've been a smiled, had his pacifier not been in his mouth.

"That was sarcasm!" Yusuke yelled at his toddler boss.

"Ugh, I had you brought here so you would get your lazy butts out of bed and start the mission!" Koenma raised his voice as he rubbed at his temples. All this shouting was bound to give him a headache.

"Fine, fine, what do we have to do? Other than get the artifact and protect these two?" Kuwabara asked impatiently.

" I'll explain…" Koenma trailed off then cleared his throat before continuing. "When the Night Dragon Tribe was decreasing so significantly in population, we started to worry and sent the remaining members we could find to the human world to have their souls put in human bodies. This process was much like when Kurama transferred his soul to an unborn child. However, we were so late in finding out about the entire genocide that we were only able to save five memers of the tribe. Two of the survivors hold the artifact within themselves-" Koenma was cut off by Yusuke.

"We already knew that part, tell us who they were put in!" the detective demanded.

"Well, since you seem so knowledgeable on that I'll skip the easy stuff. I regret to inform you that we aren't sure which of the remaining members have the staff pieces."

"Turns out that the only way to unlock the staff is to go to the sacred temple that it was created in, which was is in Makai the last time it was seen. So I'm going to be sending you to Makai to find the temple and unlock the artifact. In order to unlock the artifact, you need the two that the staff is within," Koenma explained, then took a breath and continued, "And as I mentioned before, there are exactly five remaining members of the tribe that we know of, and I'm having some them brought here as we speak. Most of them were actually separated. Akarui and Yube, were placed together to make it appear that the staff was in them if Teki or his minions ever found out about what we did. Since we don't know who holds the staff, you will have to be responsible for protecting all of them on the trip to the temple." The toddler finished his brief explanation.

Yube and Akarui glanced at one another, gears in their minds were turning, absorbing the information that Koenma had just given them.

"You were making it look like we were the ones with the staff? What if he believed it and killed us? You were willing to sacrifice us?" Yube yelled loudly at the toddler.

"Yeah, what the hell is wrong with you?" Akarui yelled as well, "Besides what if we are the ones that hold the staff, what would you have done then!" Koenma looked scared by the glares he was receiving, but then Kurama spoke up.

"Koenma, if there are five members remaining, then that leaves ten possible combinations for the two that actually hold the artifact," Kurama did the math in his head.

"That's true Kurama, but that's why you guys must bring all of the members into the temple with you. Then when you reach the room you need to be in, try every combo until some strange light shoots out of them or something," Koenma didn't seem exactly sure how to tell which ones were actually the ones with the staff. Yusuke noticed.

"Koenma? How do we know which combo holds the artifact anyway?" Yusuke asked at last.

Koenma thought for a minute, "Well, there's bound to be some sort of symbol of the staff in them, but I'm not positive," he answered.

"Great, so you don't know?" Yusuke looked even more irritated.

"No, I don't. It's been so long since I've had any business remotely to do with the Dragons." Koenma answered simply.

"Why are you sending us on this mission with such little information?" Kurama questioned.

"Well, we couldn't gather much info ourselves, seeing as the rest of the tribe was destroyed and the only remaining members we know of were put into human bodies before they were old enough to have coherent thought! And the fact that they went through the process of being born and growing up in those bodies doesn't help much because they won't have any idea that they're actually demons." Koenma shrugged.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. "Come in," Koenma said to whoever it was. His black haired assistant, Ayame, walked in with three teens behind her.

One of the teens was a guy with brown hair that was slicked back like Yusuke's, but he had one strand of green hair hanging in his face. He was about 5ft 8in, and he was wearing a casual outfit. It was a white T-shirt with a blue denim jacket and baggy black pants. He had an impatient and yet curious look in his shining green eyes.

Another of the teens was a girl with long purple hair and bright blue eyes magnified behind her glasses. Most people would assume that her hair was dyed. She was about 5ft 4in and she was wearing a school uniform that included a dark navy blue skirt, and a white T-shirt with a flap over her shoulders that matched the skirt, and a red bow on the front of the shirt. She was looking very excited and even more so, nervous.

The last member that walked in was a girl with very short black hair. (Her hair is cut right at her ears.) She was exactly 5ft 5in. Her dark brown eyes were looking around boredly until she noticed the other people in the room. She was wearing a black tank top and blue jean shorts that were torn at the bottom, along with some sandals.

The new people walked over to the group.

"Alright, why the friggin hell were we brought here?" the brown haired boy demanded.

"Calm down, Tasuke. I'll explain to you and the others in just a minute, but first you should introduce yourselves to these people. They will be your escorts to the place I'm going to send you," Koenma said to the boy. Tasuke raised an irritated eyebrow at Koenma's words.

"Like hell! How do you even know my name? I've never met you and you have your mildly attractive assistant bring me to this place to be sent to some other place that I've also never heard of! Half the stuff she told me didn't even make sense! Demons and mystical artifacts, as if! I wasn't born yesterday, though it looks like you might've been!" Tasuke felt the need to vent all his disbelief.

"I promise, Tasuke, this will all make more sense soon… Just introduce yourself, please." Ayame told him from where she stood by the door. Tasuke sighed; his interests were becoming a little more visible.

"Tasuke Tomodachi, seventeen, Mushiyori High school," Tasuke said, looking irritated. As eyes shifted to the girl next to Tasuke, she nervously adjusted her glasses.

"I'm Melanie Alow. I'm fifteen and I go to Edison High in Virginia, which is located in the United States. Pleased to meet you." The purple haired girl smiled and bowed slightly with a blush. Though most in the group understood what she was saying, Yusuke and Kuwabara were a bit unclear due to them not knowing much English. The brown haired girl remained silent, and then Koenma sighed.

"This girl is Jessica Kiloma, age sixteen, she goes to Campbell High School in Australia," Koenma introduced her to the group.

"Jess, not Jessica," the girl corrected, though she hadn't understood more than her own name in Koenma's introduction.

A/N: In order to explain the breaking of the language barrier here, I'm gonna say that Koenma gave everyone special translation devices in the form of earbuds. Once put in their ears, they hear everything as the language they do speak (English to Japanese and Japanese to English, in this case.)

After Koenma explained the whole demon thing to these three newcomers for the second time, Tasuke remained skeptical. Melanie was shocked to hear all that Koenma had to say and Jess just didn't believe a single word.

"So, you're serious, eh, little toddler?" Tasuke asked suspiciously.

"Don't call me that!" Koenma yelled.

"Why not? You don't look any older than a single year or two." Tasuke pointed out.

"Well, I'm actually fifty times older than you!" Koenma yelled.

"So… how old would that be?" Tasuke asked, starting to count on his fingers.

"Please, Mr. Tomodachi, I think that Mr. Koenma is right about this, haven't you noticed something strange about yourself?" Melanie said, sounding kind of shy.

"Other than the fact that I always beat the shit out of people and have never lost a fight, no," Tasuke answered very irritated.

"Yusuke, this guy acts just like you." Akarui whispered to the spirit detective.

Yusuke had a grin on his face, "Maybe that's why I like his personality so much." Then he walked over to Tasuke.

"Yo, Tasuke! I hate to be siding with the toddler and all, but, he's telling the truth, no matter how dumb it sounds," Yusuke told him.

"And you would be?" Tasuke looked at Yusuke.

"Yusuke Urameshi, spirit detective, and the biggest punk at Sarayashiki Junior High," Yusuke introduced himself, offering a handshake.

"Ah! So you're the 'Great Urameshi' in the rumors, eh?" Tasuke smirked.

"Depends, do the rumors involve whistling for thousands of thugs?" Yusuke asked. Tasuke nodded. Yube walked up behind Tasuke.

"Don't worry about that rumor, I bet he can't even whistle!" Yube joked. Yusuke gave Yube an 'Oh shut it! I do so know how to whistle!' look. Tasuke sniggered at the joke and then Yusuke started to brawl with Yube and Tasuke, both of who fought back with great skill as the violence-censoring dust cloud started to rise.

"Shouldn't we break them up?" Melanie asked, concerned.

Kurama walked up behind her, and putting a hand on her shoulder, he said, "No, this happens a lot. It usually lasts only a few minutes. Tasuke, Yube, and Yusuke are able to handle themselves."

"Yeah, besides, this is entertaining." Jess smirked as she watched Tasuke get punched in the nose. Melanie blinked, and then nodded, still a bit unsure. Everyone watched them fight, waiting for the dust cloud to disperse.

After everything had cleared up, Koenma had gotten back to explaining the mission. Or, more accurately said, he was getting ready to send them to the Makai.

"Alright, is everyone ready to go to Makai?" Koenma asked them as they entered a room in the palace with a bunch of floating portals in it. Each of the portals had their own little doorway with a code or coordinate marker above the entrance. The doorway they approached just said "Makai- Enter at own risk. If entered by will, we are not responsible for any deaths, broken limbs, severed body parts, etc. You have been warned." Everyone read the sign and rolled their eyes accusingly towards Koenma, except Melanie and Kuwabara who seemed to be scared out of their wits.

"Okay, let's go through already! The sooner we finish the mission, the sooner we can get back to our regular lives!" Jess yelled impatiently and walked right on through. Everyone followed. When they went through the portal, it appeared that they were falling to the ground from the sky. They were! Everyone was falling, falling, falling... everybody landed in a seemingly 'dog-pile on Kuwabara'. Everyone except Akarui who seemed to have been caught by something.

"Aright, everyone, get off of me!" The muffled demand came from the bottom of the pile. As they all began to remove themselves from the pile, they looked around to take in their surroundings. Yube was the first to notice that Akarui wasn't with them. She looked all around and then, finally, up to see if she had finished falling.

"Hey, someone caught her in the air!" Yube called to the others as she pointed up. She was right; the one that had caught her was a guy with excited blue eyes, slightly messy and slightly poofy red hair, sharper canine teeth than most humans, pointy ears, and a horn on his head. He appeared human aside from the horn, the teeth and the ears. He was wearing some baggy white pants with a blue belt and he wore no shirt, but two pieces of white fabric that crossed on both his chest and his back and looked to be attached at his belt.

"Are ya okay?" the man asked Akarui as he descended to the ground. He spoke with an Irish accent. Akarui blinked, and then looked at her savior; he looked kind of nice, and surprisingly innocent for a demon.

"Hey? Anyone home?" the man asked, poking at Akarui's head.

Akarui blinked, blushed and spoke up, "Oh, yeah! I'm just great, never been better in my whole life!" she said this quickly and nervously. The guy looked confused by her sentence, for he tilted his head to once side. The redhead descended slowly to the ground, Akarui in his arms. Yusuke and the others walked over to them.

"Jin! Long time, no see!" Yusuke greeted the guy with a happy wave.

"Ah, Urameshi! Is this lass with you?" Jin asked, referring to Akarui.

Yusuke smiled, "Well, she's in the group, but I think Hiei already claimed her for his own!" Yusuke joked. Hiei almost choked on the air he was breathing. He was surprised to hear his name brought up in that kind of manner. Hiei looked ready to kill Yusuke for saying that.

Jin frowned, "Aw, really? I woulda gladly taken her, she's quite a looker!" Jin grinned from ear to ear, both ears seemed to be wiggling with excitement. Yusuke and Jin enjoyed a good laugh as well as random conversation. Akarui overheard Jin's compliment, and blushed a bit to hear some stranger talk about her like that. Yube sniggered behind her friend. Hiei ignored everyone. Kurama seemed to be trying to ignore them as well. Melanie wondered what Jin was. Tasuke was looking around at the scenery, as was Jess. Kuwabara was just standing next to Yusuke (being a derp… well, not really, but he isn't doing anything significant).

Jin floated around looking happy. Then he stopped right next to Akarui and looked her in the eyes. "Hm, nice eyes, they be shinin' in the light, but then they be lookin' deep and dark at the same time!" Jin said after a few silent moments. Akarui blinked, wondering what Jin was up to.

Hiei looked on gloomily, "Contrary to what the detective tells you, she isn't mine. You're free to claim her." He said this coldly, while giving Yusuke a glare that could chill anyone's spine.

Jin had smiled big, showing off his teeth, "Really? Aw, thanks!"

Akarui blinked and looked coldly at Hiei. _How could he just give me away like some crap from a junkyard? He'll pay for that! Somewhere under his cold exterior, he probably cares about my well-being! I just have to make him jealous, and that'll be easy with Jin around! Though Jin's fangs are kind of cute… Ahh! What am I thinking? I'm supposed to be trying to get Hiei! Not Jin!_ Akarui looked from one person to another. She had obviously forgotten all about poor Kurama looking over at her from next to Hiei. Akarui then walked up to Jin and whispered something in his wiggling ear. Jin grinned and nodded.

"Hey everybody, I gotta hideaway not too far from 'ere. What's say ya all stay there t'night?" Jin offered. Everyone blinked, and then exchanged glances to see if anybody objected. They all saw no harm in it, except maybe Hiei and Kurama who were both glancing suspiciously at Jin, who was floating happily around in the air.

When they reached Jin's hideaway, which turned out to be more like a small mansion, Jin showed them around a bit and then they settled in what seemed to be the living room. Yusuke wondered how Jin had acquired such a large home, but when he asked, Jin just told him some richy rich up and left a few years ago, leaving the place for grabs.

Akarui sat down on a small couch that appeared to be a 'loveseat'. Jin floated by and landed right next to her. "So, what was it you were sayin' 'bout Hiei an' Kurama?" he asked her quietly.

Akarui smiled and whispered, "Well, I think they both like me, but I need proof of that and I decided that the best way would be to see if they get jealous of you." Jin nodded with a smile.

"I can do that. I know exactly how to irk people; sparking jealously over a girl ain't none too big a feat for me!" Jin said this so quickly, like most of his speech, that Akarui almost didn't hear every word.

"So, ya ready?" Jin asked her.

She blinked, "Huh? Ready for wha-?" before she could finish Jin was kissing her on the lips, quite passionately in fact. His eyes were closed, but it was easy to tell that he was actually enjoying himself. Akarui's eyes were as wide as saucers and her face wasn't as pale as it had been prior to this moment. She felt his tongue running along her lips, almost like he was knocking on a door. She didn't allow his tongue passage, but that didn't seem to bother him.

Everyone in the room was silent and staring. Most faces expressed something beyond surprise. However, Yube and Hiei were both enraged and Kurama looked either irritated or hurt.

Once Jin backed away slightly from Akarui, everyone was silent for a few moments.

Akarui could only say one thing after that, "Wow…" she muttered, still very red in the face.

"Jin, don't you think you should exhibit better self-control?" Kurama asked, resisting what urge he had to raise his voice to an unnecessary volume.

Jin blinked, "I don't get what you mean. Should I hide how I feel until it's too late?" the wind master grinned. His statement was met by an almost loathing stare from Kurama that was almost instantly replaced with a somewhat disappointed expression.

"Jin, what he meant was: Don't you think kissing someone within the first hour you know them is moving hella too fast into a relationship?" Yube translated, not making any effort to hide her anger.

Jin went through the motion of reaching an understanding and said, "Naw, I think she actually liked it to tell the truth. And I know I did, t'was actually a really good kiss. She's pretty good at lockin' lips and so on!"

At that last sentence, Hiei and Kurama has both stiffened with a certain anger to them. A few pairs of eyes noticed and looked at the two questioningly. The two noticed the staring eyes, and Kurama spoke up. "Well, I suppose I'll get going to bed now, I'm feeling a little tired." He excused himself.

_Okay, so Shuichi-kun is jealous, but what about Hiei? He has the same expression on his face… I wonder…_ Akarui thought to herself. Akarui then turned to Jin and did something unexpected.

She kissed him again, but it was on the cheek and much shorter this time. Then she said, "I'm heading off to bed too, could you show me a room that I could sleep in?" she asked him, winking. Jin got the idea.

"Sure ya lass, you can settle in my room; it's mighty cozy!" he smiled as he said this. Hiei's right eye twitched and he vanished from the room.

Before anything else was said, Yube jumped up from her seat and pushed Akarui aside.

"No! I think she'll be staying in a guest room with Melanie, Jess, and me!" Yube grabbed her friend's arm and dragged her away down the hall. Everyone stood there, taking in the scene and all that had just happened.

"What the friggin' hell are you friggin' doing?" Yube yelled at Akarui once she felt they were a safe distance from the others. Akarui looked scared out of her wits. Nothing good ever came from an angry Yube.

"Relax Yube! I wasn't going to do anything; I planned this with Jin to make Hiei and Shuichi-kun jealous!" Akarui declared as she frantically waved her arms around.

"Well, you can't be guaranteed that Jin wouldn't do anything!" Yube yelled even louder.

"I wouldn't have let him do anything to me! He seems kind enough to listen anyway!" Akarui defended Jin and herself for that matter.

Yube calmed down a bit, "Alright, but as long as you don't share a room with him, OR let him lodge his tongue down your throat again. Now let's go find us a guest room!" Yube seemed back to her normal self.

"If it eases you at all, his tongue never made it passed my lips." Akarui muttered just loud enough for Yube to hear.

"That doesn't help all that much."

Later that night, everybody was sleeping except Akarui. She was sitting up in her bed, looking out a window at the stars. She wanted to go outside and see the stars from a better view, so she got up with the blanket wrapped around her, and headed out the front door of the house a moment later.

_I didn't know there would be stars in the Makai, I wonder if there's a moon too,_ she thought as she looked out of the doorway. _Of course, I guess there's no reason that says there wouldn't be._

"There is a moon. Over there." A voice breaking the silence made her jump a step forward. She looked around and saw Hiei in a tree. Apparently, he had heard her thoughts again. Or he picked up on her fascination with the night sky.

"Hiei? What're you doing out here? Why don't you like sleeping indoors?" Akarui asked him as she walked under the dark shade of the tree.

"I'm here because I want to be. Sleeping outside isn't something that bothers me." Hiei thought of his past for a moment. Akarui couldn't see any emotion on his face, nor hear it in his voice.

"Er, Hiei? Is there something wrong?" Akarui asked nervously, knowing that he probably wouldn't answer. But she was surprised.

"Well, yes, there is something wrong, but I don't know what." Hiei said simply as he focused on his staring at the sky.

"Can I join you up there? It looks cozy and I could use a place to sit," Akarui asked, completely on another topic. Hiei shuffled around a bit, and then answered.

"I don't care if you join me, but why don't you go sit with your wind master? I'm sure you'd be much cozier with him." As he said this, Akarui detected what she could swear was jealousy. Akarui climbed up the tree to the branch that Hiei was on and sat next to him.

"You know, I don't really think I'm ready for a relationship with Jin; I hardly know him. I even know _you_ better than I know him," she smiled at Hiei sweetly. He forced himself to look away from her eyes; he found difficultly in looking away when her smile was accompanying the lovely shade blue. She sighed and then leaned on Hiei's shoulder.

"Is there another spider around?" Hiei asked curiously as she was leaning.

"No, I just find you to be a good pillow, Hiei." Akarui answered. Hiei had a tiny trace of red on his cheeks. Akarui smiled and wrapped the blanket she had around them both, and then she leaned back on him and snuggled into his chest a little. He felt his heart quicken a bit and his body felt hot. He didn't know why this was happening, but he couldn't will it to stop. Hiei's face became a lovely shade of red as he struggled to focus, though Akarui couldn't tell in the darkness.

"Erm, what are you doing?" Hiei asked, his voice sounded a bit meek for the first time in Akarui's ears.

"I'm keeping you warm; you're bound to get cold out here without a blanket. And I wouldn't want you getting too sick to protect me now would I?" she asked him in a sweet little voice.

"I don't know, would you?" Hiei answered her question with his own. _I'm a fire apparition! Why would I need a blanket to keep warm? And why didn't I say that instead?_

"Answer is no, I wouldn't. Why? Because you're being nice to me and I don't think Yusuke is good enough to protect me," Akarui said. Hiei was trying to avoid looking at her and replied.

"But there's always Kurama, and even that idiot can do some good things to a certain point," he admitted.

"Nope, I prefer you." Akarui said to Hiei, snuggling into his chest even more. Hiei's face was so red that if you were standing right there, you would've seen an illuminating red light with smoke coming from its ears. Well, perhaps not quite that bad, but it's what Hiei felt could happen at this point.

Akarui smiled to herself, _Well, he seems embarrassed, I wonder if he likes me as much as I like him? Or maybe he's just nervous because a girl has never been this close to him before…_ she thought. Hiei hadn't been reading her mind that time, but he was stuck with his own thoughts.

_What the hell is she doing? Why am I feeling so hot and sweaty? … What's the matter with me? I'm usually not this distressed… My mind is racing with insignificant facts and questions that I don't have control over… Ugh, I'm going to have a headache tomorrow, I just know it. (No you won't…) What the-? Why the hell are you back? (I'm your conscience, and you've now entered stage ninety-seven of denial, and I've invited some friends over to help me get something straight in your head!) Which would be? (Alright! You asked for it!) What? (YOU LOVE AKARUI! YOU LOVE AKARUI! YOU LOVE AKARUI!) Shut up! ( … No! YOU LOVE AKARUI! YOU LOVE AKARUI!)_

**A/N:** I've thought of a reason for the voice in Hiei's head and I think I'll explain it later on during my edit/rewrite.

Hiei puts his hands over his temples and starts rubbing them as the torturous echoes in his mind started to give him a headache.. Akarui blinked and sat up.

"What's wrong Hiei? Got a headache or something?" she asked him. He nodded, still rubbing at his temples.

_Shut the hell up! I do not love her! (…) What? Are you listening to me now? ("Shalalalalalalalala, Kiss the girl! You want to kiss the girl! Yes, you want her, look at her, you know you do. Look she wants you too. She don't got a lot to say but there's something about her. And you don't know why, but you're dying to try, you want to kiss the girl.")_ _I don't even know that song… how is it that my conscience would know it? (… No reason.)_

Hiei's face is now kind of really confused and wide-eyed now. Akarui poked him.

"Something must be seriously wrong with you. You're face is all freaked out now…" she told him, observing his face pretty closely.

"Nothing's wrong, I just… have a bunch of crazy things going on inside my head. The headache must be causing it…" Hiei scratched the back of his head and then began to rub at his temples again.

Akarui blinked and grabbed one of Hiei's hands, then placed it on her chest over her heart.

"Hiei? Can you feel it?" She asked this with an innocent smile. Hiei's face was even redder if at all possible.

"My heartbeat, I mean." She'd added that as an afterthought once she saw his face. Hiei blinked as his face lessened in redness, and then he nodded.

"It's beating pretty fast." He told her, trailing off.

"Yup, that's because I'm nervous. You and I haven't really gotten along since we've met and this moment feels like a big step forward to me. I'm constantly worried that you will hate me or not want to be around me." She smiled at him still. Hiei stared into her darklight blue eyes as she let his hand slip down to her thigh, then to the cold, hard tree branch. Akarui noticed him staring and sighed.

Akarui then smiled at him and kissed his cheek, "Okay, well I'm going to sleep now, goodnight Hiei," she said as she snuggled into him again.

_She fell asleep on me… Great now this is going to be bothersome… Hm? The singing stopped… ("Can you feel the love tonight? The peace the evening brings? The world, for once, in perfect harmony with all its living things.")_

Hiei's face was now contorted in what was probably the most confused expression he had ever had on his face. Hiei had had enough. He then spoke to his supposed conscience.

_If I kiss her, will you shut the hell up? I'll do it if you say yes and keep your word! (Well, I suppose that'd work out fine, but I'll only be quiet for tonight. Tomorrow I'll be back and you better be ready!) I will, now leave me alone!_

Hiei then hugged Akarui closer to himself and kissed her forehead. _There, now bye. (Hey that wasn't fair you have to kiss her lips! They thirst for the touch of yours! Kiss her lips and then I will leave you alone for __**two**__ days!) Hmm… if you promise not to bother me about it EVER, and keep the part that you just said in there, then I will. (Alright! Just do it!) Just a minute and I will. _

Hiei smirked slightly, then looked down at Akarui's sleeping form. He bent down a little lower to catch her lips in a kiss with his own. Of course since Akarui was sleeping, he didn't really find it too embarrassing. He actually seemed to like this kiss. While he was still kissing her, he heard something in his head.

_("All those days watching from the window. All those years on the outside looking in, all that time never really knowing just how blind I've been…") I thought you promised not to bother me for two days? (I need something to do until I can bother you again, so I'm listening to my music!) … You really have terrible timing (So, I like this song, nyeh!)_

Hiei broke off the kiss at last and then sighed; his conscience was going to be playing love these songs for two days… That's going to get annoying.

The next morning, Akarui woke up and realized that Hiei's arms were around her waist in a tight hug. _Huh? How did that happen?_ She wondered as she tried to wiggle loose. She recalled the previous night and smiled a little until she realized what a tight grip Hiei had on her. She couldn't get free. She managed to reach up and poke his nose.

"Hiei? Wake up please." she said, sounding kind of hushed. Hiei shook his head and opened his eyes lazily.

"Huh? Good morning?" Hiei was very tired. He yawned once before he realized what Akarui had woke him up for. He removed his arms from her almost immediately.

"I'm not going to ask if you don't." Akarui said.

"If I don't ask what?" Hiei asked.

"Exactly." Akarui smirked. She took the blanket and hopped down from the tree branch, wondering how she hadn't fallen out of the tree and died while she had been asleep.

So once everyone was awake, fed, and they packed everything they would need (a small backpack worn by Yusuke with water bottles), they were off into Makai territories again. They had already waved goodbye to Jin after thanking him and asking for directions to some temple, which of course he knew little about. Hiei and Akarui were walking side by side until Yube pulled Akarui back a few feet.

"What happened last night? Spill all, I saw you leave the room and head outside!" Yube said.

Akarui held her mouth agape, "You mean you were awake?"

"Yeah, I was just pretending to sleep. I was even good enough to fool the author!" Yube replied. Akarui seemed about to comment further on the fake-sleeping topic, but Yube gave her a 'stay on topic' look.

Akarui frowned. "Well, I slept in the tree with Hiei last night after talking about him protecting me, me thinking he's a good pillow, him having a headache, then telling him why my heartbeat was so fast, and then saying goodnight." She told her friend every topic she remembered from the previous night, holding up a finger for each one as is she was counting.

"That's it? No kissing or anything? What about the whole 'whose kiss feels more right' thing?" Yube said, sounding disappointed in her friend.

"I kissed his cheek goodnight, you can't rush these things." Akarui told Yube with a little embarrassment.

"Sure you can; look at Jin, he kissed you and lodged his tongue halfway down your throat within the first hour of knowing you." Yube still seemed to be a bit protective of that.

"No he didn't…" Akarui twiddled her fingers before realizing fully what Yube was saying. "And I can't just do that to Hiei!" Akarui yelled this part quite loudly.

Everyone else had heard her. They all looked curious, especially Hiei and Kurama.

"Erm… she just asked me to-um… kick Hiei in the head for not keeping Jin away from me last night…" Akarui quickly lied. Everyone now looked at Yube.

"Well, I don't approve of Jin kissing you and asking you to share his room with you. And Hiei did nothing to stop him, nor did Shuichi, I noticed." Yube said, and she actually meant it, even if it went perfectly with the lie her friend told. Now everyone else turned away again. Both girls decided they would talk about this later when there were fewer people to listen in on the conversation.

A few hours of walking later, the group had come across a big ruin type area. It looked like the remnants of some big temple.

"What's this old junkyard?" Tasuke asked, looking around.

"Dunno, but maybe it's the temple we were supposed to find?" Yusuke's statement had sounded more like a question.

"It may be." Kurama agreed.

"Well, what're we waiting for? Let's just get this over with!" Jess demanded, stomping forward. Everyone followed her closer to the rubble. (Think of this place as the Egypt of the Makai)

"I don't see any entrance." Kuwabara looked around the sand-covered terrain.

"Well, perhaps we're standing right over the entrance. After many years, the land could've eroded over the entrance, or possibly storms occurred that caused this." Yube pondered aloud.

"Well, we'll have to start digging then won't we?" Yusuke asked.

"Yup, now let's start digging in different areas. I'll be over here with Jess. Yusuke and Tasuke over there! Hiei and Akarui over there, and Shuichi and Melanie over there!" Yube instructed, then she noticed Kuwabara standing there. Realizing she'd forgotten about him, she pointed at him, "You join Yusuke and Tasuke!" she ordered.

Everyone did as instructed. They were digging down and investigating the area around them. After about twenty minutes of checking the areas under a few feet of sand, everyone tired and stopped digging to take a break.

"Any luck over there?" Yube called to Akarui from her area about twenty yards away.

"No, nothing here!" Akarui called back her answer. Suddenly, Akarui felt herself sinking.

"Erm- Hiei? Am I getting shorter, or am I sinking in the sand?" Akarui asked nervously as she sank even more. Hiei glanced up from his resting place on a conveniently placed piece of rubble, and before he could open his mouth, Akarui was pulled down under the sand with a loud scream escaping her!

"Akarui!" Hiei called, kind of alarmed. Everyone looked over there, having heard Akarui scream.

Before anyone could take one step, they were all pulled under the sand in the area they were in! That can only mean that everyone is separated until they can find each other again.

When Hiei sank through the sand, he landed on his feet in a crouched position on a hard stone floor. He looked around at his new surroundings, and then he noticed Akarui lying on the floor unconscious.

"Akarui?" Hiei ran over, knelt down and shook her awake.

She opened her eyes and looked around curiously, "Where are we?" she asked.

"I suspect we're in the temple, the sand swallowed everyone and we're all separated," Hiei explained.

"Ah! You mean we have to find everyone, then find a way out of here?" Akarui raised her voice. Hiei nodded. Akarui got up slowly to her feet and then she dusted herself off.

"Well, let's start looking for them, shall we?" she said, sounding adventurous. She held out her arm, waiting for Hiei to grab it.

Hiei just looked at her arm, "Why are you holding your arm out in front of me?" he asked, sounding rather confused.

"I'm waiting for you to take my arm and then we explore the depths of the temple looking for our friends together! We will brave the perils and avoid death so that we can have a heart-warming reunion with everyone!" she said like a narrator from a TV series would.

"I'll pass on the braving of perils and heart-warming reunions. Let's just start looking for them." Hiei said.

Akarui frowned, "Fine, I'll just have to give you a kiss if you don't want to hold on to my arm." She challenged him.

"You wouldn't." Hiei seemed skeptical.

"Aw, don't be such a non-believer!" Akarui said before hugging him and giving him a kiss on the lips. She then stopped, "See? Anything is possible!" she stuck her tongue out childishly. She turned around to make a face, saying even she was surprised she could do it.

Hiei was red faced and annoyed, "Fine, just don't do that again, I may die of poisoning." He said with a slight smirk as he grabbed hold of her arm.

"Oh, I'm no snake, I'm a dragon! I don't do that tongue thing!" she said with a smile, knowing that he wouldn't understand her reference. Hiei shook his head and then the two headed off into the dark chambers.

Jess and Yube had been quick to realize their situation as they looked around the chamber. "Hm… you think this is the right temple?" Yube looked around curiously.

"I don't know, but let's hope, that way we can get out of here sooner!" Jess said.

Yube looked at Jess in disbelief, "Why do you seem so eager to get back to your normal life? This is an adventure of a lifetime! You know after this, you may never have a normal life again," Yube pointed out to her.

"I know, but I- I just don't want to be important like this. One of the remaining members of an ancient demon tribe that may hold the key that some demon could steal and destroy the whole planet with! It is way too much pressure for me, so I just want it over with!" Jess said shaking her head.

"Relax, Jess. Just think of it as a video game, only virtual reality. You're the character that all the bad guys want, working with people that are trying to protect you. And besides, I'm a member of the tribe too." Yube tried to help calm Jess.

"I guess that helps, but still, let's just hope this is the right temple. If it's not, we'll just have to go to another one and see if it works," Jess sounded determined now.

"There see, you're calming down!" Yube declared happily. Jess smiled for the first time since this trial had begun and nodded.

"Now let's go find the others!"

When Melanie and Kurama had landed, Melanie had hit her head on the floor.

"Melanie? Melanie? Are you all right? Come on, wake up!" Kurama shook her gently. Melanie's eyes fluttered awake.

"Huh? Kurama, how'd we get here?" she asked, looking around the old sand block walls.

"We sank through the sand, the others did as well. But I believe that we've all been split up into the very same groups we were digging in." Kurama explained briefly as he kept his attention on their surroundings. Something about this place seemed foreboding to the fox demon. Melanie nodded and with help from Kurama, she got to her feet.

"I guess we'll have to go find the others then, correct?" Melanie looked at Kurama.

He nodded, "Yes, that would be the best thing to do." He agreed with her suggestion. Hopefully the others would be okay. The two started to walk in an agreed upon direction, Kurama looking out for enemies or demons every inch of the way.

"So, Kurama? Do you have any girlfriend or anything?" Melanie asked; she sounded embarrassed to ask.

"Well, no. But believe it or not, I do have a special someone that I like, yet I think Hiei has at last taken a shine to her as well. So in other words, I'm single." Kurama sighed heavily. Melanie looked relieved to hear that. And that look didn't escape Kurama's notice no matter how focused he was on being watchful for enemies.

"Why'd you want to know?" Kurama glanced back at her curiously.

"Huh? Oh, no reason! I just figured that you being well- er... that handsome and all that you'd have a girlfriend, but I guess I was wrong!" Melanie waved her hands around slightly frantic with a red face. Kurama chuckled at her frantic act. _Well, I guess Melanie has a crush on me._ The fox thought to himself.

"Damn! This place is like a friggin' maze in Hell!" Tasuke yelled loudly as he, Yusuke, and Kuwabara were walking around.

"At least it's not quite as bad as maze castle," Yusuke noted while holding his hands behind his head.

"Yeah, that place was crazy! Especially that Byakko-monster!" Kuwabara said.

"You only say that because you couldn't even beat him after he fell into a lava pit," Yusuke stated.

"Nuh uh!" Kuwabara argued.

"Whoa guys, no fighting now! We need to find the others, and then you can fight! Got it?" Tasuke acted like he was baby-sitting them.

"Right, got it! Anyway, what other rumors are there about me?" Yusuke asked Tasuke curiously. Tasuke started telling Kuwabara and Yusuke about the rumors as they kept looking for the others. They seemed relatively worry free in their trek.

"Hiei? What the hell is that thing?" Akarui asked Hiei as they entered another chamber. She was pointing at a large statue-like thing that looked like a dragon. It had itself wrapped around a large stone sword too. The two eyes of the monstrous statue were glowing red like rubies.

"I don't know what it is," Hiei stated as they walked closer to examine it. Then Akarui found some sort of inscription on it. It said something in another language.

"Yo! Hiei! I found some inscription!" she called Hiei over.

"Can you read it?" she asked him when he looked at it.

"No, it must be in the tribe's native tongue." Hiei observed. Akarui stared at it and felt a strange jolt in her head.

"I think I know how to decipher it! See this symbol? It's 'Ryu' in Japanese, just missing the first stroke of the stroke order." She pointed at the symbol and then drew the full kanji for dragon in the air with her finger.

"So that was the dragon's secret language?" Hiei questioned, almost not believing her.

"I guess so." Akarui shrugged.

"What's it say?" Hiei asked her, not bothering to look at it himself. Akarui's gaze went from Hiei to the inscription and she began to decipher it.

Akarui read aloud, stumbling or pausing every few words:

"_The Night Dragon Tribe_

_You shall be weary below _

_For if you do not_

_The emerald green_

_Eyes that see darkness below_

_Beckon ancient strength_

_If love burns within_

_Utter your beloved's name_

_And prepare yourself. _

_Falling is not your foe."_

Hiei blinked, he didn't quite understand what it meant by "falling is not your foe". Akarui thought aloud, "Well I think it means that there's something important below us and to access it I just need to say a name of a person I care for." She guessed the gist of what she gathered from the inscription.

"Well then let's investigate." Hiei insisted. Akarui nodded.

"Yube!" Akarui called out. Nothing happened. "Okay… what about Shuichi-kun!" she yelled out again. The silence hung in the chamber around them as Akarui turned to Hiei. "Erm… Hiei, do you min-? Ahhh!" Akarui started but before she could finish, she and Hiei were falling through a trapdoor.

When they fell once again on the floor, but only one level down, Akarui thought this was getting painful. Landing on another cold stone floor. There was another statue in this room, but it had glowing green eyes. Akarui rushed over to it, and found another inscription. She pointed it out to Hiei. He nodded, then she read:

"Congratulations

One level is left to go

Do not be frightened

But you must be warned

It becomes much darker there

You are not alone

_Still love burns within_

_Again your beloved's name_

_And prepare yourself._

_You shall die one way or the other."_

Akarui stopped once she finished reading. Her eyes said all that was on her mind. She looked very worried. Hiei noticed, "What's wrong with you?" he asked.

"Nothing, it's just what this thing is implying, but I guess I should tell you what I think this one means." Akarui blushed slightly, hiding her worry for a split second. "I think in addition to something important in the final chamber, there's also something incredibly dark… maybe evil. And I also think it's saying that you're my beloved…" Akarui spilled her thoughts out.

"A dragon statue with ancient inscriptions thinks I'm your beloved? Ha, preposterous! As if it has the ability to speak." Hiei was skeptical of the meanings behind the inscription, while he also considered them for a moment. As his thoughts trailed off on the idea that someone might genuinely care for him, he felt a heat rising in his cheeks.

"Well, it seems to think that and if that's all it takes to convince this thing to let us down, then so be it!" Akarui exclaimed, trying to hide her red face. Hiei seemed to be trying to hide his face too. "Hiei? What's wrong-?" Akarui once again didn't get to finish her sentence because they were falling through a trapdoor.

This time when they hit the floor, they realized it was made of a much more ornate stone than the two previous chambers. The room had another dragon statue in it, but it was golden, and wrapped itself around and large black staff instead of a sword. This statue had glowing green emerald eyes and they shone extra because this chamber was lit with torches that reflected light into the eyes. Akarui ran over to the statue and noticed that there wasn't an inscription. Hiei walked up behind her.

"There's no inscription this time, so that means that this must be it. The room where the artifact is revealed…" Hiei noted, scanning the chamber. Akarui shook her head.

"Something's not right here, I don't think this is the right place." She said this while looking around as if she felt a bad omen.

"Why not?" Hiei looked at her curiously. Before Akarui could explain a voice came from behind them.

"Correct, Akarui Yuyake, this isn't the correct place for the revealing of the artifact; this chamber is tainted with my malice. It's not even the actual temple, that holy place was hidden long ago." The voice was quiet, yet loud and emotionless. The owner of the voice stepped out. It was the man from the dream that had destroyed the tribe! Teki! (Go back to chapter 2 for a description.)

"Teki! What the hell are you doing here?" Akarui demanded with hatred in her voice.

"Akarui, you know him?" Hiei asked her while getting ready to unsheathe his sword.

"Yeah, he appeared in my nightmares as the one that destroyed my tribe, even the Great Elder Linkai didn't stand up to you!" Akarui was in a fighting stance. Teki noticed the stances the other two took and chuckled while shaking his head.

"I have not come for a fight, but if I must to get what I came for, so be it. Still, I bet you are wondering about the babies in the dream that hold the staff, who are they? Where's the temple? How does the staff get revealed? Isn't that right, Akarui?" Teki smirked as he stated each question, his green eyes glittering with delight from Akarui's livid stare.

"So what if I'm wondering that?" Akarui looked at him suspiciously.

"Oh good, you are. I can answer all those questions for you. You and your best friend hold the staff; that was an easy one. The hard one was finding out where the temple was hidden. Well I'll give you a hint, it's in this very room!" Teki declared.

"What?" Akarui looked around slightly. Hiei was still standing there, looking ready to attack if he needed to.

"Time's up. The answer is that little man there! Yes, Hiei, as you call him. The elder may have been weak, but he was always making things harder for those of us with… darker ambitions. He cast a final spell on you and Yube Tsuki right before that reaper took you away. He made it so that when one of you fell in love you would instantly give the temple to the person you love." Teki explained, slowly walking closer to them.

"I don't understand. How is it in him?" Akarui asked. She looked at Hiei as he looked back at her.

"It's magic, my dear Akarui. There is a way of bringing the temple out of him, but the command can only be issued in the native tongue of the tribe, and it must be issued by the one that gave the temple to him." Teki smirked. He was now standing right in front of Akarui, and he put a hand under her chin.

"That would be you." Teki looked her in the eyes as he stroked her cheek.

Akarui was struggling to get out of Teki's grasp, but he wouldn't have it. He pulled her closer until his nose was only centimeters away from hers.

"And you know what else? The elder unintentionally messed up his spell. The temple isn't removed without consequence. Well, they would die, or the holder of the staff that gave away the temple would die; the choice is yours," Teki said, still grinning evilly.

Hiei had been listening to every word carefully, and he couldn't believe it. He hadn't known anything about this and yet he was one of the biggest parts of the mission! But that would have to mean that Akarui loved him. He was also surprised to hear that. And after absorbing the information, Hiei unsheathed his sword and went charging toward Teki. Right he reached Teki's side with his sword ready to slice the demon in half, Teki smirked.

"Stop! Or do you want her to die?" He'd purposely brought attention to the girl still in his grasp. Teki looked at Hiei, who froze right there.

"What? Don't you need her for the staff?" Hiei looked like he still wanted to kill Teki really badly.

"Sentimental demon, I don't need her for this. I could simply kill her now. The staff would then choose another member of the survivors. I believe that Melanie girl is falling for that clever fox, and she's much easier than Akarui. Then the temple would leave you and go to him; but then, what fun is the easy way?" Teki laughed.

"You bastard!" Hiei yelled angrily.

"I may be a bastard, but at least I'm not the one losing something precious!" Teki smirked.

"What?" Hiei and Akarui questioned in unison.

"Until Akarui is ready to say the command to release the temple, I'm going to keep her with me. Who knows? Maybe the temple will leave you and come to me, and then she'll love me so much that she'll choose to die and I'll get the staff." Teki smirked and chuckled at that idea.

"Let me go, you bastard!" Akarui yelled at Teki as she struggled.

Hiei was infuriated as Teki began walking away. He got out his sword and leapt into the air. He came down right at Teki's head and struck! Teki had deflected the strike without moving a muscle. Hiei went flying into a nearby wall and hit his head, dropping his sword. He wasn't about to give up! He got up and powered up a Fist of the Mortal Flame, then he charged at Teki and struck yet again. And once more, he was knocked back.

"I suggest you stop trying, Hiei. I have a barrier that can stop an attack three times as powerful as your strongest attack at one time! Then the strength of the attack is deflected back at the attacker, leaving me in perfect condition, and the attacker, well it depends on how much power you put into the attack. I'd say you aren't trying hard enough, but what would I know? Maybe you just don't love her as she does you. Is that it? You're not fighting for love; you're fighting so you can cut down on your jail time in Spirit World?" Teki questioned Hiei.

"That's not what I'm fighting for." Hiei stood up, now bloodied and bruised.

"Oh? What, then?" Teki asked, stopping right by the doorway of the chamber and turning around. Akarui was still in his arms with her face stained by her tears, but she was paying attention to Hiei.

"I'm fighting because she's one of the few people I've met who treats me no differently than anyone else. She doesn't hate me because of what I am. And I'm not so fond of your idea." Hiei said, struggling to stay on his feet.

"Sorry, but that won't be enough. If you truly loved her, you wouldn't have any problem admitting to it. Now, it's time for a long nap!" Teki said, pointing a finger at Hiei and then he blasted him with a huge energy blast! Hiei was hit against the wall once more and fell to the floor.

As he was losing consciousness, he heard a loud and distressed, "Hiei!" Then everything went black.

End Chapter 3

Next time- Botan here! Well, I hope you liked that dramatic chapter, cause there's more where that came from! But first, here's the preview for next time! The group leaves the Makai, thinking that the best chance they'll have at getting Akarui back is to bring Teki to them! After all, he needs the other half of the staff and the temple, and he intends to get them! But what of Hiei? Will he be too down in the dumps to help out our team? Probably not, but he still feels bad that he couldn't stop Teki. But we don't seem to have much time to feel sorry for him, because we're too busy being frantic and worrying about Akarui. Man I miss that girl and her personality already! Oh, that's a shock! Teki has a sister? Who is it? Next time on "The Bright Sunset and the Evening Moon"! Come on Hiei, buck up!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Powers of Darkness, the Heart of Fire, and the Sibling Mystery!

"Hiei! Hiei! Wake up!" The fire demon heard these words as he stirred into consciousness once again. Hiei sat up quickly, feeling a little dizzy. He looked around; he was still in the chamber where Akarui had been taken.

"Alright, bub! Where the friggin' hell is Akarui?" Yube picked Hiei up by the front of his cloak, looking damn angry.

"Teki took her away after knocking me out." Hiei said solemnly. Yube dropped the short demon on the ground in disbelief with her mouth wide open.

"She probably has a half of the artifact! Great, my best friend was kidnapped by an evil guy!" Yube started to sound worried.

So, Hiei told everyone what happened, leaving out the parts with any love interest in it. The group had feelings mixed between shock and worry once he finished.

As the group headed towards the exit, Kurama noticed that Hiei was walking with a limp in his stride and went to his side to help his friend walk.

"So, the temple's in our own little fire demon right here? That's all nice and dandy, but Teki still has Akarui and he probably knows who the other holder of the artifact is!" Yusuke was yelling to anyone who would listen.

"That guy is gonna pay big for this!" Tasuke said, also very frustrated.

"I don't care about pressure anymore, I just want that ass burned and buried!" Jess agreed with them. Most in the group nodded that they wanted the same thing. Kurama and Yube both seemed surprised by the sudden motivation being shown by Jess and Tasuke. Yube thought that they may have felt some sort of camaraderie towards Akarui.

Yube spoke up again, "So what do we do now? We don't know where Teki is and there's no point in continuing the search for the temple. I suggest going back to the human world and waiting for him at Genkai's temple. He still needs two more things to get what he wants." She closed her eyes in thought.

"Perhaps that would be the best thing to do, that way he must come to us, and when he does we'll be ready," Kurama nodded his agreement. Everyone agreed with that plan as they reached the exit.

Later, back in the human world, the group had just told Genkai what happened. "So, half of the staff has been unlocked, that's not good," Genkai said.

"Well no friggin' hell it's not good!" Yusuke yelled.

"Shut it, Dimwit!" Genkai warned Yusuke.

"Miss Genkai? What exactly can the staff do?" Melanie asked.

Genkai shuffled a bit in her seat, "Well, it was designed to protect the Night Dragon Tribe from harm. Ironic that it's the cause of the entire genocide. Teki as you call him had stolen the staff once and used its powers for evil, selfish gain. That was when the elder Linkai was young and strong. Linkai retrieved the staff. But the siren's call overcame Teki soon after, so he started the thousand-year war of the dragon demons." Genkai explained. Everyone was listening intently. Most wondered how Genkai even knew this much.

"Apparently, he'd been too strong for anyone to stand up to him. Then after that war had raged on for one thousand years, Linkai knew he wouldn't last very long, so he hid the staff inside two of five remaining infants and cast a spell that would allow Hiei to contain the temple within him." Genkai glanced over at Hiei. He sat on the outside of the group's circle around Genkai looking more depressed than usual.

"Grandma, not that I don't appreciate this history lesson and all… but you still haven't told us what the staff does!" Tasuke yelled.

"If you would shut the hell up, then maybe I would be able to get there!" Genkai glanced angrily at Tasuke.

Genkai cleared her throat. "The staff was originally created to protect the tribe as I stated before, but its powers are immense and could be used to fulfill the appetite of any power-hungry monster. Unfortunately, it fell into the wrong hands and its dark powers were unlocked, which is what Teki desires from it. The only thing left to do is to get the staff and destroy it." Genkai told them.

"Genkai, you said that the elder cast a spell that allowed Hiei to possess the temple; what was the spell?" Kurama asked very curiously.

"Well, Teki told Hiei, and I suppose it's not a shocker that the stubborn-ass hasn't told you." Genkai looked at Hiei. Everyone then cast an expectant glance at Hiei.

"What are you all leering at?" Hiei looked up, and he sounded rather annoyed.

"What was the spell?" Kuwabara asked.

"Yeah, did it have to be inside someone she didn't get along with?" Tasuke asked.

"Naw, it would've been in Kuwabara then." Yusuke pointed out to Tasuke.

"Hey!" Kuwabara yelled, offended. Then Yube walked up to Hiei and looked him in the eyes, quite closely observing.

"I know what the spell was, it's written in your eyes, Hiei. The spell was one that would be put on the person she loved." Yube announced this without hesitation. Hiei avoided the amazed looks on his 'friends' faces.

Then Yusuke came up to Hiei, "Well, it seems you've got an admirer, you little devil! And you didn't tell good ol' Yusuke?" Yusuke was giving Hiei a noogie.

"Cut it out. It's not as if we're going to live happily ever after." Hiei glared up at the detective.

"Well, I suppose if you don't want her, Jin will be happy to hear that," Yusuke said aloud.

Hiei bolted up to his feet, "Not that moron!" he yelled. That had come out unintentionally. Hiei covered his mouth as everyone was looked at him with either a grin or a curious face.

"It would seem our little fiery friend has a thing for Akarui." Yube grinned.

"I do not!" Hiei narrowed his eyes at Yube.

"You know how happy she would've been to hear you say you liked her? If you don't know just read this!" Yube thrusted a small black book with no title into his hands. While he was scanning through pages, Yube added, "Page six, paragraph three." (She's been through Akarui's diary…)

Hiei went to that page and his eyes scanned the paragraph. It read:

_Anyway, I think I'm developing a crush on him; it may be too soon to actually tell though. But I do know that he can't be that bad if he's a friend of Shuichi-kun. I think he will be a great friend in the near future, too. I just have to give a good impression. I don't know why, but I'm tempted to just plain out ask him if he hates me. I feel that he might with how he talks to me… but I know I could never really hate him… I guess I love Hiei._

Hiei couldn't believe that she had written that about him after only knowing him for two days. Yube was still standing in front of him.

"See? She thought you hated her, and yet she still loved you. It's obvious how she feels about you though, seeing as the temple is inside you, but the remaining question is yet to be answered. How do you feel about her?" Yube said to him. Hiei gave Yube the diary back and walked out of the room.

Everyone stared at the empty doorway. "Guess he couldn't take the fact that someone loves him," Kuwabara said.

"No, he's feeling guilt for Akarui's capture," Genkai shook her head.

"Hey, this is all really educational, learning that Hiei has emotions and all but… we still don't know where the hell Teki took Akarui or when he's going to strike again!" Yusuke raised his voice unnecessarily.

"Dimwit, just shut up." Genkai threw a small pebble at Yusuke's head and shut him up temporarily.

Yube walked over to Kurama. "Hey Shuichi, I suppose you're not taking this in the hardest way possible." She observed with a smile playing on her lips.

Kurama faintly smiled, "Well Yube, I guess it was just a small crush, almost everybody is bound to have one that they get over soon." Kurama stated.

"So, you don't mind that your best friend took your crush?" Yube asked casually.

Kurama smiled, "Well, no. I don't mind as long as she's happy with her choice, and Hiei has needed somebody to show him the good side of life," the fox pointed out.

"Yeah, or he would be even more of a pain," Yube shook her head, then looked back at Kurama and said in a suspicious tone, "So, got anybody else you like? You seem to be taking this too easily for someone who just had their crush stolen away." Yube had been closely examining Kurama's eyes.

"Erm, well not exactly…" Kurama backed away from Yube's suspicious glare.

"Who is it?" Yube grinned catty-like.

"There is someone who is interested in me, but I've yet to decide how I feel about her." Kurama hinted. Yube looked around the room, and there were three candidates. Genkai? Too old. Jess? Too rough and she's not at all interested in boys. Melanie? Could be, she is pretty, smart, nice, and well… kind of like Kurama in a girl form or something.

Yube grinned, "Alright, I'll ask Melanie if she likes roses." Yube sniggered as she walked a few steps away.

But before she could go more than five paces, Kurama grabbed her arm, "Ah, Yube, please don't jump to conclusions on your own." He was a little embarrassed that Yube was accusing him of liking Melanie.

Yube nodded, "Don't worry Shuichi, I know you're embarrassed. I find it quite adorable." Yube smiled innocently.

Outside, Hiei was sitting in a tree, lost in his own thoughts. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even notice that he was in the same tree that he and Akarui had been fighting over a few days ago. (But I noticed that! ^^)

_Why didn't I see that before? It was so obvious from the hints and her mind… she loves me and I don't even notice. Figures I'm oblivious to any deep-rooted emotions projected onto me. But how do I feel about her? I don't even know myself. Maybe I do lo- (Hey Hiei!) What the hell are you doing? It's only been a day and a half… (I know, I know. But there's just some news I wanted to report. Your denial stage is now at a mere stage two!) That's not helping. (Well tough toenails! I was just wondering what's been going on since I decided to leave you alone. That's an amazing denial change and in just one day, especially for you!) Teki kidnapped Akarui. (And you let it happen?) I didn't LET it happen, I just wasn't strong enough to stop Teki from succeeding…_

_(You must REALLY love Akarui then, right? I mean you wouldn't feel as bad as you do if you didn't!) Maybe I do, maybe I don't, why don't you tell me… and how did you know that I was feeling bad? (Duh! I'm a conscience!) What is it like usually? (Overcast with slight chance of rain) And that means? (That you're not open to other people and you have few friends, and possibly that you're going a little insane...) Uh, thanks that doesn't help at all. (But the shocking news was that when you were with Akarui the night we made the deal about leaving you alone, it was bright and sunny in here! There were cherry blossoms drifting around too! That hasn't occurred since you were about… okay so it's never happened…) Bright and sunny with cherry blossoms means? (That means that you're happy and open and you're falling in love! That's how I know you're in love with her!) Really? You don't say? Now that you've told me the weather forecast, I'm sure you want to leave now. (But… I don't want to leave! If I leave you gotta go save Akarui from Teki, kay? One favor for the conscience!) Just go away._

Hiei sat there, thinking about what his conscience had said, and then he looked up at the starry sky.

"Well, I'll make it sunny there again for him, that should suffice as a favor," Hiei said to himself.

Somewhere in the Makai in a dark and gloomy dungeon-like place, Akarui was chained to the wall, by both her hands and feet.

_Damn that Teki! He just loves to make his enemies suffer! I can't believe Hiei couldn't even make him flinch though… That's not at all good. If Hiei couldn't phase him, then who can? I miss Hiei… I loved him, but now I'm either doomed to die in this gloomy place, or I unlock the temple from Hiei and I'd obviously choose myself to die… Dammit! Either way I look at it, I die!_

_I don't want to die before I experience more… like having a good family, starting one of my own families, becoming a mother, then a grandma, then I want to die with some big fancy funeral with people being sad over me but happy to have known me! I refuse to die in the manner of options I was left with!_

_Man, just about a week ago I was a normal girl supposedly skipping school! I had no worries until that dumb little toddler appeared…. Then it started, and it ends here… I'm so lost and confused… Hiei, come get me soon, I want out of here!_

Akarui had been locked in there for at least half a day. She was feeling weak and tired and hungry. Teki had knocked her out cold when he got irritated of her yelling and he had apparently brought her there. She couldn't break the chains around her wrists or ankles either because they seemed to be sucking out her energy.

Just then, Akarui heard footsteps entering the dungeon. She looked up at the one that entered. "What do you want, Teki?" She scoffed. Teki chuckled.

"I simply want the staff, dear Akarui. But I need my little sister whom possesses the other half, and that Hiei that you've come to love so dearly." Teki smirked as he told her this.

"S-sister? Who's your sister?" Akarui asked, surprised to hear that a beast as bad as him could even have one.

"My sister, you know her better than I do. So tell me, how is Yube?" Teki questioned, looking at Akarui's shocked expression with amusement.

"Whoa! You're Yube's brother? That would mean that you're-!" Teki cut off Akarui.

"A member of the Night Dragon Tribe? Yes, I used the staff to destroy my own tribe!" Teki admitted with sheer delight.

"Why?" Akarui demanded, still chained to the wall.

Teki closed his eyes and smirked as he walked closer to Akarui and held his hand under her chin.

"Dear Akarui, you understand so little. I simply did it for the power, you see, I had had a few enemies when I took the staff, and I used it to kill them. But I became addicted and needed more pain and blood, I guess you could say. Who knows? Maybe I just didn't like the tribe once I was banished from it." Teki voice gave off no emotion as he spoke.

"Why did they banish you?" Akarui asked, glaring into his eyes with loathing. Teki sighed and started the story.

"Well, when I was younger, I was one of the greatest warriors of the tribe. One day I was faced with a difficult challenge and decided that the only way to fulfill it was to borrow the staff without permission and use it. I had originally planned to put it back afterwards, but I didn't. I was delighted with the new power surging in my veins! After a few days, Elder Linkai had found me and took the staff back with force. He left me in a critical condition, saying that the staff was never meant to be used unless lives of loved ones were hanging the balance. And he said now that I had been influenced by the temptations of power; I was no longer allowed to tread on the land we lived within. So of course I was furious and wanted revenge, so I came back with my own armies a few years later after much training. I came back for the staff, but Linkai had been preparing for this and the war took a thousand years before I finally decided to confront Linkai and demand the staff, but by the time I arrived, he had sealed it within you and my sister."

Akarui had been listening intently, "Does that mean the staff is evil?" she asked.

"Not at all. It's just very powerful, the most powerful neutral force known to the dragon tribe. It's just that I was consumed by dark thoughts when I took the staff, so I imagine I tipped the balance," Teki shrugged slightly and looked closely into Akarui's shimmering blue eyes. "You know, you have very beautiful eyes, the blue eyes of an ice dragon. Yube's eyes are like mine and the green eyes represent that the dragon can use any element, but specializes in the use the earth element. However, I prefer the element of darkness," Teki informed her.

"I'm hardly in the mood for you to be commenting on my eyes after what you did to Hiei!" Akarui tried to look away, but his hand wouldn't hear of it.

"You miss your fire demon dearly I see. Well, then I suppose I should go get his attention and make him come to you. Would you like that?" Teki smirked, still looking menacingly into her eyes. Akarui was silent as she saw a glint in Teki's eyes that had a desire for blood. Teki then took something out of his pants pocket and put it on Akarui's forehead, then it vanished as if her skin had instantly absorbed it.

"What the hell was that?" Akarui demanded.

"It's simply something that'll weaken you further, and possibly make you get a serious gash or a bunch of scratches. It's only so if you do manage to get out, you'll be too weak to get out of this dungeon alive," Teki stated. Akarui's eyes widened in shock as she felt a stabbing pain.

Teki smirked still and then took his hand away from her chin. He turned around and walked toward the stairway to somewhere else in this gloomy place.

As Teki was leaving, Akarui had regained her ability to speak. "You leave Hiei alone! If you want the staff, just take it! Leave my friends out of it!" she yelled. She heard Teki chuckle a response as he left her sight.

_No… Hiei, Yube, everyone… I'm sorry! This isn't going to be a pleasant ending like I'd hoped. I'm sorry I never told Hiei how I felt, I'm sorry I never gave Yube back that T-shirt I borrowed! I'm sorry to Yusuke and Tasuke for yelling at them on more than one occasion, I'm sorry that Shuichi-kun loved me and I didn't notice! I'm sorry for everything I did that no one appreciated! I'm even sorry for calling Kuwabara names and telling at him and telling him he's a brainless idiot!_

Akarui thought this apology as she started feeling tears swell in her eyes. "I can't believe I'm even apologizing to Kuwabara," she said aloud, surprising herself. "But if I'm going to die soon I might as well pencil it in," she added as she sighed sadly. A tear flowed down her cheek as she felt the hope draining from her. Many bloody gashes had appeared on her limp body, and it was the terrible burning pain going through her body that made her say what came out of her mouth next. "I wish this had never even started…"

Back at Genkai's temple, everyone was waiting anxiously for Teki to come get the other people he needed. They were all sitting in the living room as Hiei walked in the door.

"Hey Hiei, any sign?" Yusuke glanced up at the demon. Hiei shook his head, but then he felt a pain in his head and staggered slightly. Kurama noticed and looked alarmed.

"Hiei! What's wrong?" The fox asked. Hiei put a hand over one of his temples and closed his eyes.

"I think something's wrong with Akarui." he said through gritted teeth.

"What?" Everyone demanded in unison as they heard Hiei.

"I think she's injured," Hiei guessed as he felt another pain, this time in his chest. He didn't show this one to the others, but he had a feeling that Kurama had noticed.

"Then why the hell is it affecting you?" Tasuke asked. Before Hiei could respond,

Yube spoke up, "Well, I would guess that since Akarui and Hiei are linked in 'deep affection' for one another, they feel the other's pain," Yube suggested. "How romantic." She added the last bit sarcastically.

"How'd you come up with that one? Yusuke asked skeptically.

"Well, I've seen it on TV." Yube pointed out. The others sighed and shook their heads. Yube suddenly sensed something outside. "Hey, anybody else sense that?" Yube asked as she glanced cautiously around the room.

"Oh yeah! It's a strong energy." Yusuke declared.

"Great, now that you sense it, let's go find out what 'it' is!" Jess ordered.

"We might as well," Kurama agreed. Everyone else nodded and they all headed toward the door. Even Genkai did.

When they went outside, they saw Teki standing just yards from the door with a smirk of amusement, like always. "I see you all realized my arrival at last," Teki said.

"Shut the hell up and tell us where Akarui is!" Tasuke yelled.

"My, you're in a hurry, eh? Well, if that is the case, then you'd better hurry to the native land of the tribe to get her back before she dies," Teki had pure delight in his voice as he said this.

"You bastard! Just give her back to us!" Yusuke demanded, running at Teki to punch him, but Teki easily blocked it by grabbing Yusuke's fist in his own. Yusuke couldn't pull his hand free.

"I rejoice in informing you that I don't plan on doing that. I still need that staff, and my sister possesses the other half. And that small man there has the temple, which I also need." Teki pointed at Hiei as he mentioned him.

"Sister?" Yusuke asked, his surprised was reflected in the fluctuation of his voice.

"Yes, sister. Care to guess which one it is? There are only three choices." Teki smirked, gesturing toward the three girls, Jess, Melanie, and Yube.

Yube instantly stepped forward.

"I take it I'm your sister? You do have my eyes," she pointed out.

"Very good, I'd hoped you would get it," Teki smirked while Yusuke still attempted to get his hand free.

"But why would you destroy your own tribe?" Melanie asked.

"I detested them and their peaceful ways, so I started the war. But I'm sure the hag there has told you the story. She's well-educated on a few histories of the demon plane." Teki pointed at Genkai. Everyone was glaring at Teki. "Hiei, I'm surprised you haven't tried to attack me yet. What's the matter?" Teki questioned smugly as he tossed Yusuke aside like a rag doll. Kuwabara, Kurama, and Tasuke rushed over to Yusuke to make sure he was okay. Hiei looked up at Teki, remaining silent.

"Oh yes, you've probably figured out that my prisoner is in pain right now. Akarui is probably screaming in agony as we speak, that little Itami patch I placed of her forehead is not meant for killing, but if she gives in to the pain and decides to continue bleeding out, it will be time for her death." Teki explained. Everyone looked at Teki with a hateful glare.

"Teki, you said something yesterday that puzzled me," Hiei started, then continued in his regular monotone, "You said that when the temple was brought out of the carrier either the carrier of temple or the holder of the staff would die. Suppose the one with the staff chooses themselves, how would you get the staff then?" Hiei questioned.

"Oh yes, that's all part of the staff being revealed by using the sacred phrase. If Akarui chooses herself to die then her half of staff will come out at the same time as the temple. All that's left would be the other half," Teki explained.

"God, why the friggin' hell is this so complicated?" Yusuke yelled, trying to understand what was just explained.

"Well, this next bit shouldn't be too complicated for even you, detective. Tonight come to Makai, the exact area you were before you entered the ruins of the false temple. I assure you, once Akarui opens the temple for me, you can have her back." Teki grinned evilly.

"We don't want her when she's dead, we want her alive!" Jess yelled out.

"Well if you wish to succeed in that plan then come to Makai tonight, Akarui will be alive then and you can try all your hero stuff to save her. Of course, it'll be in vain, but it would be too boring if you didn't at least try." Teki chuckled and then disappeared into thin air.

"That bastard! I can't believe he's your brother!" Tasuke yelled, turning to Yube.

"Yeah, whatever. I kind of got a feeling I knew him. And I'll be the one to fight him when we reach the final battle. Got it?" Yube said with a sharp tone.

"Why you? I'm the one that destroys the evil bad guys here!" Yusuke yelled.

"I will because I said so, and you wouldn't stand a chance, Linkai said it would be another member of the tribe that killed Teki, and I intend to be that member!" Yube said in an emotionless tone. Everyone nodded in understanding.

"Then it's settled, we're all going to the fight, and Yube will be the one to destroy Teki! And if needed, we'll provide backup!" Yusuke declared.

"Yeah!" Everyone agreed.

_Don't worry Akarui, we're coming… I'm coming…_ Hiei thought to himself as everyone headed inside to get ready.

End Chapter 4

Next time- Hey everyone, Akarui here! I volunteered for the next time preview because Botan has a cold today. Anyway, next time the final battle should really heat up! But what's this? The temple is opened and I die? Gah! I don't want to die! Well, I guess this would be goodbye for me. Teki will get his grubby hands on the freakin' staff, and I die… that sucks! But I would rather be the one to die as opposed to Hiei dying… Where are you Hiei? Please hurry everyone! Yube goes up against Teki and another shocking result will come of that! Goodbye everyone… wait a minute! What? I don't die? Okay, so do I or don't I? Next time on "The Bright Sunset and the Evening Moon"! I'm confused!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Yube vs. Teki: The Battle of Lost Faith!

_Hiei, Yube, Shuichi-kun, Yusuke, Tasuke, Genkai, Jess, Melanie, Idiot… Where are all of you? I can't get out of this damned place,_ Akarui thought as she felt another searing pain in her chest.

It'd been hours since Teki left to say he'd bring them to her, but she hadn't heard anyone return yet. She honestly had no clue what was happening. She was constantly fading in and out of consciousness. Akarui had no more tears going down her cheeks, though it did look like she had been crying because of the tearstains.

She heard footsteps echoing from the staircase at last. Teki walked into the room again. She looked up at him with anger and pain. Her eyes had lost most of their shine; they looked near lifeless. Teki smirked with obvious delight at her facial expression.

"Dear Akarui, your friends will be here in a matter of hours, every one of them. Even Hiei." Teki announced this, remembering to put emphasis on Hiei's name when he said it.

"What are you going to do to them?" Akarui asked, still in pain from the scratches and scars that Teki had caused with that pad thing.

"I simply wish to destroy them all, though I suppose I could make it easier for you and give most of them a quick and painless death," Teki offered with a grim expression.

"How about you make it really easy on me, and just leave them alone! Then you can kill yourself!"

Akarui demanded. "Tsk, tsk, you should know by now that I can't do that, even if I wanted to. Just for that, you die first," Teki smirked.

"Go ahead and kill me! Kill me now! Then I'll finally be able to rest in peace!" Akarui yelled angrily. Teki shook his head as his smirked faded.

"I don't want to do that yet. Your friends will get the extra motivation they need to harm me, and I that shouldn't happen until the end." Teki said this as if he was planning on them getting stronger.

"You won't kill me because you're afraid of what my friends would do?" Akarui questioned.

"Well, to be blunt, no. I simply want to test the best of their abilities without the motivation of death," Teki's shoulder raised slightly as he considered his answer.

Akarui felt another pain in her chest. Teki noticed the cringe on her face.

"Ah, so the itami patch is still having effect on you," Teki noted.

"Yeah, you just noticed?" Akarui mumbled irritably. Teki smirked and walked up to her and once again put his hand under her chin firmly in order to make her look at him.

"Akarui Yuyake, the ice dragon. Possesses powers of ice, yet is unable to use them." Teki observed.

"Shut up! I'm tired of your stupid-ass remarks, your observant, mellow nature, and your stupid voice! All I want now is to see you dead for what you did to the tribe, Hiei, and what you're going to do to everyone else I care about!" Akarui yelled out. Suddenly, Teki stood back, removing his hand from her face.

Akarui was changing. A bright blue light engulfed her. Teki covered his eyes to block them from the blinding light. When the light dispersed, Akarui looked different. Her eyes were the same color, but her hair had turned to that of an icy blue. She now had two short and pointy dark blue horns on top of her head accompanied by pointed ears. Her teeth were now fangs and her fingernails retractable claws. She also felt like an extension had been added to the end of her tailbone. A light blue reptilian tail swayed.

"Ah, so you've transformed into a the resting form at last." Teki applauded mockingly.

"What?" Akarui questioned, her fangs showing.

"I keep forgetting that you don't know anything about your people. The members Night Dragon Tribe were all in this 'resting' form most of the time after a certain incident in the Spirit World. This incident was more or less someone scared of seeing a fully grown dragon waltz into the King's palace. So from then on, it was a rule that when outside of the dragon demon domain, we were to remain in these forms. Many children often had trouble learning to control which form they were in, often giving in to more childish emotions like anger or vengeance in order to reach the fully grown dragon form. I learned how to control my form when I was five years old and was dubbed a class S demon by Spirit World standards." Teki smirked at the memory.

"You mean you can transform right now?" Akarui asked.

"Yes, but I'm saving that for the battle. My form is much more horrifying than yours," Teki informed.

_Horrifying…? I can't be that horrifying, can I?_ Akarui thought. Teki raised an eyebrow and smirked. He saw her lips curve into a frown at his words.

"Don't worry. I'm sure Hiei won't even recognize you in that form, so he won't know who the horrifying beast is." Teki chuckled menacingly.

"Shut up! Hiei wouldn't care if I were in this form or not! He's not that kind of demented soul!" Akarui defended Hiei, mostly so she wouldn't be convinced of it.

"How can you be sure? You've barely known him for a week, and yet you feel this kind of confidence in him?" Teki questioned her.

"Yes I have that much confidence in him, because I trust my heart." Her eyes lit up again as she said this.

"That won't be enough to prove your theory though, now will it?" Teki smirked.

"I've heard enough of your lies! Hiei won't care that I look different!" Akarui shouted over Teki's sinister laughing.

Teki shook his head, "Sentimental fool," he muttered. Akarui glared at Teki in pure hatred, but this time she could swear she saw some emotion in Teki's emerald green eyes.

Teki then walked up to Akarui again and took the chains off. Instantly, Akarui fell to the floor in pain. Teki picked her up and slung her over his shoulder, not even caring that some of her wounds were starting to bleed into his clothes.

"Well it's time for the beginning of the end." Teki told her as he carried her out of the dungeon.

Akarui didn't even find the strength to struggle free from Teki's grasp. That itami patch taken its toll on her. She was covered in her own bloody wounds and barely remaining conscious.

_Hiei, would you really think that I'm hideous in this form? Would you think I'm weak because I couldn't get free on my own? While I'm worried about what you think, I know I'll always love you, Hiei._

"Well, the time has arrived for us to meet Teki, so let's be aware," Yube stated as she looked at the sky. Their group had left only ten minutes after Teki invited them and left. Three hours had pass since then. Sunset had started.

"Yeah, he should be here anytime now." Tasuke nodded and stood up from the rock he had been sitting on. Kurama glanced over at Hiei, who was quieter than usual, then walked over.

"Hiei, you're worried about Akarui, aren't you?" Kurama asked with sympathyin his voice.

Hiei looked up at his friend, "Yes. I just hope she's not dead right now," Hiei answered.

Kurama smiled faintly at his friend, "Don't worry too much, if I know Akarui, she has too much pride to let Teki rid her from this world," Kurama assured him. Hiei couldn't help but smile slightly at his friend's attempt to cheer him up.

"Kurama, you were in love with her weren't you?" Hiei asked Kurama while scanning the area. Kurama blinked, a bit of surprise displayed on his face and then he nodded.

"I admit that I fell for her charm, but I can't compete with the way you feel about her." Kurama shook his head with a smile on his lips.

"And by that you mean?" Hiei raised an eyebrow in question.

"I know you love her, Hiei. You've been acting unusually nervous around Akarui since the first day you met her. I can't blame you for liking her, she does have a certain charm to her. And I'd almost call it an irresistible charm." Kurama closed his eyes and smiled. Hiei had a very slight trace of red showing on his cheeks.

"And we all know that she loves you," Kurama added.

"Well, opposites attract and all that," Hiei mumbled as he avoided eye contact with Kurama.

"So it seems. She holds the powers of ice, while you have fire. Not only that, but your personalities are almost completely opposite as well." Kurama agreed with Hiei's mumbled statement. (Don't ask me how Kurama knew that part.)

"He's here," Yube said solemnly as she stood up and faced a certain direction. Everyone stood in a ready stance as Teki walked closer with the sunlight behind him. The group noticed that Teki was carrying someone over his shoulder.

_Ah, so Akarui has transformed into her demon form, but not fully, _Yube thought as she figured out that it was Akarui on Teki's shoulder.

Teki stopped right in front of Yube and smirked. "So you've figured out who this is?" he questioned her, already knowing the answer.

"Of course, I know what she looks like in that form. I know almost everything that you do at this point." Yube also wore a smirk on her face. Yube had a black aura around herself that was starting to flare up.

Melanie, Tasuke, and Jess exchanged glances with each other. "Think we'd be able to do that?" Tasuke asked. The others shrugged.

"Well, maybe we can try that later when we all get home," Melanie suggested, not wanting to have an aura around herself yet.

"Fine…" Tasuke sounded disappointed.

Teki and Yube were having an old fashioned stare-down. Yube glanced at Akarui's body slung over Teki's shoulder. "Teki, if we're going to fight, then let her go first. You wouldn't want to kill her yet now would you?" Yube simply pointed out. Teki blinked once slightly surprised that Yube had pointed that out.

"So, you know how I operate?" Teki asked, expecting her to respond with a yes.

"Yup, you take the most fun and drawn-out ways in your schemes," Yube stated.

Teki clapped his hands a few times. "Very good, baby sister," he smirked.

Teki got Akarui off of his shoulder and cast her aside, near Hiei's feet. Hiei knelt down at her side and looked at her face. She was pale and in pain.

_Akarui? Is this really her? She looks so different… it can't be, can it? (What do you mean it can't be? It's gotta be!) What the? What are you doing back… again? (I'm here to help you out… if you need it. I can tell you that I'm almost positive that this girl is Akarui, look at her eyes!) Okay…_

Hiei listened to his conscience and looked at the dragon girl's eyes. Her eyes were light blue for the majority, but there was a hint of darker blue in a small area near the pupil. The same eyes as Akarui's, there was no mistaking it. Hiei set her head down in his lap and sighed with relief.

Kurama rushed over to Hiei and crouched down to check on the girl as well. "Is that Akarui?" Kurama asked quickly. Hiei nodded once. Kurama examined her a little. "Hiei, check if she's breathing," Kurama suggested. Seeing as Hiei probably wouldn't let anybody else get that close to her at the moment, the fox figured it was best for him to do it. Hiei nodded once more. He was slightly reluctant to lower his head to her breast to find out if her heart was beating and if she was breathing.

"She's still alive." Hiei reported to Kurama after a long moment of listening to her core.

Teki and Yube were just about to start up the fight.

"Baby sister, I'm going to get your friends some entertainment too, they might get bored just standing there the whole time," Teki smirked as he snapped his fingers. Suddenly, thousands of demons of varying sizes and shapes came from the direction of the sunset.

"What the hell? Everybody! Be alert, Teki's sending his minions after you!" Yube yelled behind her. Everyone looked up and noticed the demons coming toward them.

"Now, it's time for our fight!" Yube told her brother, who smiled with delight.

"I assure you, I will not lose!" Teki said. Yube smirked and charged at her brother. Teki seemed pleased that the fight had at last started.

Yube transformed into rest form. Her hair was silver and she had tall, black horns on her head, as well as the pointed ears. Her tail was black with a single green spike on the end. She showed her claws as she grinned, showing her fangs as well.

Ademon was racing towards Melanie! She didn't know what to do; she'd never fought a demon before, let alone anyone at all. _This is it! I'm going to die right here!_ Melanie thought as she tightly closed her eyes, preparing for a claw or some teeth to sink into her. It never came. Kurama stood nearby with his Rosewhip in hand. Melanie slowly opened her eyes, wondering if she was dead.

"Kurama? Erm, thank you." She blushed a little as she realized Kurama had killed the demons with the whip.

"Not a problem at all, Melanie," Kurama smiled at her, "Perhaps you'd best stay close to me until the wave of demons falls." He gently used his free hand to direct her behind him.

Tasuke, Yusuke, Jess, and Kuwabara were doing a good job against the demons. They were all punching the demon's lights out. Tasuke and Jess didn't even notice the energy they were using in the punches, but nonetheless, they were killing the demons. This impressed Kuwabara to a point. He'd never had that much natural talent with his energy at first, but here were these two demons that could use theirs without even knowing it!

Hiei was burning any demon within five feet of himself or Akarui with his Fist of the Mortal Flame. Akarui stirred a little. Hiei quickly glanced at her as she stood up. Akarui looked a bit groggy as she almost stumbled, and would've fallen had she not caught herself. She was still covered in scratches and blood.

"Hiei? What happened?" she asked, walking over to him, not quite noticing the demons yet. A demon was charging right for her!

"Akarui! Move!" Hiei ordered as he slashed at the demon with his sword, having unsheathed it as fast as he possibly could. Akarui blinked, and then noticed the carcass of the demon right above her. She was so occupied staring at the demon carcass that she didn't realize it was about to fall on top of her. So she was soon under a bloody carcass.

Hiei sighed, "I warned you," he said, touching the carcass and instantly burning it to ashes. Akarui got up, coughing from the ashes.

"Heh, heh, I guess I wasn't listening, like always…" She smiled, showing off her new fangs. Akarui then looked around and fully absorbed the scene. There was a big fight going on.

"There's a fight going on? Alright, I'll do my best to help!" Akarui readied herself, getting into a stance. Hiei looked on at her.

"Akarui, I don't think you should be fighting in that condition," Hiei said to her as more demons were coming.

"Don't worry. I'm in my demon form, this should be a cinch!" she declared as she jumped at some demons and used her claws to slash at about five demons at her top speed. All that remained were ribbons. Hiei was impressed by her great increase in speed. Akarui landed perfectly on her feet and smiled at Hiei's expression. She walked over again, and then she looked down at him.

"Surprised?" she questioned.

"I think you know the answer to that." Hiei answered with a smile. Akarui smiled and hugged him tightly. After a few moments she released him.

"It's good to be surprised," she said with a grin. Hiei sighed and readied his sword for the demons charging from behind.

Teki and Yube were fighting each other head on. Yube was doing very well on dodging punches and kicks and energy blasts. Teki powered up an attack that he liked to call "The Fist of Death" for obvious reasons. Teki struck! Yube was hit in the gut, and she was in a great deal pain; so much that she held her arms over her stomach.

"Teki, you realize that you will die, right?" Yube smugly asked her brother as she released her stomach..

"Don't count on it, I have plans for you and you're friends, and I'm afraid it's too late to cancel." Teki smirked as well.

"Well, let's keep fighting then!" Yube ordered as she charged Teki again after the short exchange.

Yube used her claws to scratch a couple gashes into Teki's back and stomach. Teki struck back with his own claws, barely making contact on his sister. Yube had been slashed across her stomach exactly where the punch had landed earlier and there was now a large wound there. The blood spilled out in copious amounts as Yube put one hand back on her stomach to cover the wound. Teki smirked with delight as he saw his sister in pain. Yube cringed uncomfortably at the stinging pain in her gut.

_Damn, I hate it when he smirks like that. It must mean he's scheming. Well 'Big Bro' you won't get the best of me in this battle!_ Yube thought anxiously. Yube blinked and then smirked at Teki as she noticed something.

"Hey Bro, according to legend, the Night Dragon Tribe members get stronger during a full moon, correct?" Yube questioned. She looked at the orb in the night sky and grinned as she used a finger to feel the wound in her stomach and then brought it to her lips to lick off the blood.

"That is very true. Glad I picked tonight for the battle now?" Teki asked his sister.

"Yeah, because now that the moon is beginning to rise, we are both going to be stronger, and so will the others. Then your minions won't pose a threat, thus becoming useless," Yube said, smirking all the while. Teki merely returned the smirk as the moon rose higher.

Tasuke, Jess, Akarui, and Melanie all blinked as they felt a surge of power go through them. And suddenly, they were all glowing with color-coded auras. Jess's and Tasuke's were red for fire. Melanie's was purple for wind. Akarui's was of blue for ice.

"What's happening?" Melanie asked as the bright purple light engulfed her. She felt strange warmth from the light and it was a good feeling. When the light dispersed, she had a purple tail and small, purple dragon wings, a single horn on top of her head. She felt that she also had fangs, pointed ears, and retractable claws.

Kurama stared, bewildered by Melanie's little transformation. Her eyes were now a light lilac color. Her hair hadn't really changed at all.

"Remarkable," was all Kurama could think until another demon was coming toward him. For once, he was actually too distracted to notice incoming danger.

"Kurama! Look out!" Melanie pointed behind him at the demon, but a bright purple light shot from each of her five fingers and the demon was sliced into many pieces. Kurama realized what was going on as he brought himself back to the fight and he avoided the falling pieces of demon. He was amazed by the sudden change in power, and so was Melanie.

"Oh… my…" Melanie managed to stammer as she stumbled backward.

Tasuke and Yusuke were battling demons by the carload. Now that Tasuke had finished his transformation, his hair and eyes were now red, and he had two tall, black horns sticking out of the top of his head. His ears were now pointed and they twitched slightly as he felt his power course through his veins. He smiled at this, showing off his new fangs proudly. He readied his claws for the next wave of demons. Yusuke grinned; he couldn't help his next line.

"Tasuke, is the hair on your head the only place your hair changed?" Yusuke joked as he used his shotgun to destroy about ten demons at once.

"I'm not sure, how about you check for me later?" Tasuke grinned at his own joke. Not that Yusuke was actually interested, but he laughed.

"I'm not so sure my mind could take such a wonderful sight!" Yusuke yelled sarcastically. Tasuke smiled and laughed with Yusuke as he sent a fireball at some demons.

About twenty feet from Kuwabara, Jess had just finished her transformation as well. Her hair was red, similar to Tasuke's but lighter, the same as her tail. Her irises were yellow. Like the others, she had grown horns, but there were three. Two in front, and one on the back in the middle of her head. Her pointed ears twitched.

"Whoa, this is really kinda cool. I feel… strong!" Jess said to herself as she continued fighting.

Soon, all the minions were destroyed and Teki was the only one left. Yube still fought her brother. They appeared perfectly even. But then, Teki stopped fighting and vanished suddenly.

"Hey, where'd he go?" Yusuke asked, for he had been watching the fight since he's finished off all of his demons.

"I don't know." Tasuke and Yusuke both surveyed the area in search of Teki.

"Hmm," Hiei seemed to be thinking, but then looked at Akarui. She was on her knees, muttering. Then she turned to Hiei and started chanting something.

"_I have jurisdiction to the Sacred Temple of the Dragons._" Akarui chanted.

"Damn!" Yube shouted from where she was standing in the sand. She knew where Teki was, now. Teki had gone into Akarui's body to release the temple!

"Hiei! Teki's gone into her to release the temple!" Yube called as she dashed toward Hiei and Akarui.

"What?" Hiei growled as he looked at Akarui. Before he could make a move to stop it, he was frozen in place, but not by her ice powers. He was stuck by Teki's power over shadows.

Teki, through Akarui, continued his words uninterrupted. "_And with my jurisdiction I summon the temple, knowing full well what the price is_!" Once this sentence was finished, Hiei's eyes widened. He saw a bright light as it literally shot out of him. A little ball of blue light now floated just inches above a possessed Akarui's hand. Hiei collapsed almost instantly.

"Hiei!" Yusuke called as he came to his friend's side.

"Hiei!" Kurama rushed to Hiei's side too.

"So, it begins. Who will be chosen?" Yube asked as she gracefully came to a stop right in front of the rest of the group. They all faced the possessed Akarui.

End Chapter 5

Next time- Hey, Yube here. Listen, I don't have much time; my best friend is in trouble. Teki releases his hold over Akarui's body just so she can choose between herself and her lover to die. The choice should be obvious. When she dies, the top half of the staff is released. I'm livid! I swear to obliterate him. During our fight though, Teki manages to get my half of the staff as well. This can't really be the end, can it? Why is the temple so important when the staff is fully reassembled? Next time on Bright Sunset and the Evening Moon!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Conclusion: Goodbye my Friends

The ball of light remained floating above Akarui's hand. Her body suddenly came back under her control as Teki separated himself from her to float behind her.

"Well, Akarui, I do believe it is time to choose," Teki smirked. Akarui blinked as she took in the scenery around her. She then looked at Hiei on the ground, out cold. She gasped.

"Oh no! Hi-!" she was cut off by Teki before she completed her words.

"Careful, if you say his name, he _will_ die," Teki warned. Akarui's eyes widened and she could just feel herself getting sad, her eyes were starting to well with tears.

On the ground, everyone was watching. The clinched was just being set in motion. Yusuke, Tasuke, Melanie, Jess, and Kuwabara all had their mouths agape. Yube was glaring at her brother with hate as pure as ever. Kurama was still at Hiei's side, but looking up as he awaited the decision.

"Why do I have to choose, can't I just put it back in him?" Akarui was asking out loud, mostly to herself though.

"No, it is impossible to put it back inside him now without tearing his soul to pieces, and if you do not choose, he will not regain consciousness. You must choose who dies now, and who lives. The choice is yours," Teki told her with his regular tone.

Akarui let a solo tear roll down her cheek. She then smiled. She began having flashbacks…

_Flashback Sequence_

"_Ah, you must be the one I was looking for, you fit the description perfectly." They forgot to mention how hot this guy was. Oh well, I wouldn't expect to hear boys say that about other boys, that would just be gay._

"_That would be rather gay, but more importantly. Why are you yelling so loud? Are you trying to make my eardrums bleed?" _

"_Wait, how did you know what I was thinking? Does that mean you heard the first part too?"_

"_I heard every one of your thoughts. Actually, I more or less, felt them. Now answer my question."_

"_I was yelling for you because… I really don't know exactly why I was, but some floating toddler told us to look for you, so, I guess I got caught up in it. Oh, and I wasn't trying to make your eardrums bleed."_

"_Anyway, why were you sleeping in the tree? Didn't Genkai offer you a room?"_

"_Wow, this is cozy, maybe I'll sleep here tonight!"_

"_Hiei? How can you read minds? Could I learn how to?"_

"I can hear some of your thoughts. And it's because of this."

"_Your brain or your bandana? I can't tell what you were pointing at."_

"_If you're going to lean, lean the other way. What's your problem? Let go!"_

"_Sp-sp-sp-spi-spider! Big hairy spider crawling on my arm!"_

"_Well then squash it and stop clinging to me!"_

"_Sorry! I have a fear of big hairy spiders!"_

"_Is there another spider around?"_

"_No, I just find you to be a good pillow, Hiei,"_

"_Well, let's start looking for them, shall we?" _

"_Why are you holding your arm out in front of me?" _

"_I'm waiting for you to take my arm and then we explore the depths of the temple looking for our friends together! We will brave the perils and avoid death so that we can have a heart-warming reunion with everyone!" _

"_I'll pass on the braving of perils and heart-warming reunions. Let's just start looking for them."_

"_Hiei!"_

"_I wish this had never even started…"_

"_Surprised?" _

"_I think you know the answer to that."_

"_It's good to be surprised."_

_I'll always love you, Hiei._

_End Flashback sequence_

"So Akarui, have you decided?" Teki's voice asked when Akarui snapped into what was happening. She smiled and nodded. She'd decided, she chose…

"I have chosen to sacrifice myself," she stated clearly. The blue ball of light began to glow more intensely and then it so bright that everyone on the battlefield shielded his or her eyes.

When they all opened their eyes, Akarui was on the ground, no longer in her dragon form. She wasn't moving at all either. The top of the staff floated above her. It only needed the bottom and it would be complete. Teki grasped his prize and smirked. He then looked toward the moon, in its light was the dragon's holy temple. It had appeared as soon as Akarui had given the command to kill herself.

Yube, finally able to open her eyes, looked furious.

"Teki, you killed my best friend! How could you do that?" she called angrily as she walked toward him. She threw a punch when she got in range. But he caught her hand and squeezed it within his own, causing her to cringe.

"Do you think this was easy for me to do? Do you think this mind and body really wanted to kill Aka?" Teki questioned his younger sister. Yube was confused now, but then she understood. Teki actually looked like he felt remorse for his deeds.

"Huh? Mind and body? So I was right in my suspicion. " Yube asked. Teki now regained his usual expression.

"Ignore that, this fool has been fighting me for his body for 1000 years, and he still hasn't won!" Teki said. Yube frowned, knowing what she had to do.

"The fact that we aren't actually related makes it much easier to take you down!" Yube yelled and blasted a hole through Teki's gut with her free hand. Teki's face was full of surprise, pain, anger and sorrow.

He got into a fighting stance and the two started charging at one another again. Both knew this would be the final round.

"Kurama, any clue what the Teki guy is saying?" Yusuke asked his fox friend. Seeing as Kurama was a fox, he did have pretty keen hearing. Kuwabara, Tasuke, Jess, and Melanie all looked at Kurama expectantly. Kurama seemed stunned for a few seconds until he looked at his friends, turning his attention away from the battle.

"Teki said it wasn't easy for him to do what he did, in fact, that he never wanted to. Apparently, Yube's brother isn't _really_ Teki. He is just the one in control." Kurama gave the group a play-by-play. They all blinked and then looked at the two combatants.

"So… what? Her brother is possessed by something and kills her best friend in his twisted quest for power?" Jess asked just to clarify.

"In simple terms, yes." Kurama answered.

"This just gets more and more dramatic…" Kuwabara said.

"Well, screw him! If he was weak enough to get possessed in the first place, then it's too bad for him!" Yusuke yelled, feeling no pity for the man. Tasuke seconded the opinion with a strong nod.

"If Teki's been possessing Yube's brother for as long as he's been looking for the staff, that's at least a thousand years of life that he doesn't get back and can never make up for," Melanie pointed out.

"Well, it sucks to be him. I'm not one for pitying the enemies when they've killed someone on our side." Yusuke raised his voice only a little to make sure his point was made.

"Uhhn… what?" Hiei was just coming to as Yusuke spoke. Everyone looked at the fire demon as he sat up with a hand to his head.

"Hiei, how are you feeling?" Kurama asked him.

"My head hurts… what's happened?" Hiei sounded rather drowsy for him.

"We're sorry, she chose herself," Kurama said, his head hanging low.

"What? Wait a minute… Akarui? Where is-?" Hiei glanced around a bit and then his eyes fell upon Akarui's motionless body lying on the ground. His eyes instantly widened and he got up and ran over to her.

"Akarui… how could you…?" Hiei didn't say anything more. He lifted her a little off the ground and held her in his arms, hugging her body. He brought her up a little more so that he could put his ear to her heart, but once there his fears were confirmed. Her heart no longer beat.

Kuwabara and Yusuke usually would've made a smart crack or something, but this was too dramatic for them to even consider it. Hiei had been in love for the first time ever in his life and then she went and died on him, in his place, even.

Melanie was in tears, but Kurama put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Jess and Tasuke were just watching with sympathy-filled faces.

Yube was throwing a flurry of kicks, punches, and energy blasts at Teki. He was taking a lot of damage this time around. When Yube grabbed him by the collar of his torn shirt, he looked very scared.

"Any last words?" Yube asked smugly as she tightened her grip.

"Sister…" Teki's voice said, sounding a bit shaken. His tone caused her to pause. Then he continued, "you fool…" he suddenly said in his hateful voice as he stabbed his clawed hand inside Yube's stomach and said something in the dragon tongue. Then Yube was blinded by a bright light he'd released from her body and pushed back by an incredibly strong force. She went shooting into the ground about twenty yards away.

Teki smirked as he held the body of the staff in his right hand and the top of the staff in his left hand. He put them together and went in the direction of the temple.

Yube couldn't get up from her position on the ground. She had broken a couple bones in the impact on the ground. And there was now a huge hole in her gut that was bleeding like crazy. She glared at Teki as he walked to the temple door, said something and walked in, the door closing behind him.

The group ran over to Yube, Hiei following after gently put Akarui on the ground. Though he didn't dare go further from her body than where Yube stood.

"Yube! Are you alright?" Yusuke asked.

"Do I look alright?" Yube asked, her attitude still as robust as ever. Yusuke shook his head.

"Teki's gone into the temple, why?" Kurama asked no one specifically.

"He needs the gem that gives the staff its power. Elder Linkai merely put the staff that the gem goes with in us. He never thought anyone would figure out how to use the staff if the power gem it needed was hidden in the Holy Temple," Yube answered rather weakly.

"We'll go stop him, Tasuke, Jess, Melanie, you three stay out here and keep watch over Yube, make sure she doesn't die as well," Kurama instructed. Hiei, Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama were just turning to leave when Melanie grabbed hold of Kurama's arm.

"Kurama… please come back alive. I-" Melanie was close to tears again, as Kurama cut her off.

"I know. We'll talk about it once I return. Take care," Kurama smiled and gave her a quick embrace. Melanie couldn't help but blush as Yusuke and Kuwabara grinned.

"Come on, lover-boy, time to go save the world again!" Yusuke gestured for Kurama to hurry up and he, Kuwabara, and Hiei took off. Kurama quickly caught up.

The boys just reached the door. It looked sealed shut.

"Hey, how do we open this thing anyway?" Kuwabara asked.

"Good question. For once," Yusuke commented. Kuwabara growled.

Kurama observed the door, "Well, Teki was able to get in, so there has to be a way inside."

"Hm, since the temple came from Hiei, maybe he can open it," Yusuke pondered aloud. They looked at Hiei, and he raised an eyebrow.

"What do you want me to do? Try one of those ridiculous human magic tricks?" Hiei questioned in his monotone.

"Well, maybe if you said 'Open Sesame!' or something like that…" Kuwabara suggested.

"Forget it! I'm not degrading myself to that rubbish!" Hiei raised his voice as he glared at Kuwabara. Just then, Kurama thought of something.

"Perhaps you won't need to! I'm thinking it reflects your feelings toward the world. Of course Teki could get in because he knows spells of the dragon demons, but we may not need those if you were, dare I say, open with us," Kurama suggested.

"How 'open' are you talking?" Hiei asked gloomily.

"How about you tell us why you looked so nervous that one time when Kuwabara's dumb cat sat in your lap at his house?" Yusuke asked curiously. Kurama chuckled a little until Hiei glared. Apparently, Kurama knew why.

"Eikichi is not dumb!" Kuwabara shouted at Yusuke.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. So Hiei, why?" Yusuke shrugged off Kuwabara's shouting and waited for Hiei to answer.

"I could answer that, but it wouldn't make him any more open to the world." Kurama tried to resist his laughter. Hiei's right eye twitched slightly and he sighed deeply.

"When I was five, I was attacked by a son of a bitch cat and it left a bad mark…" he said this with a touch of shame and much hesitation.

"What? So you, 'Mr. I-hate-you-all-and-fear-nothing!' is afraid of cats?" Yusuke sniggered. Hiei glared.

"You would be afraid of those things if you'd been scratched where I had!" Hiei yelled angrily. Yusuke thought for a minute then he understood and cringed.

"Oh, man… that's gotta smart! I feel your pain man. Oh, I hope you don't have any disfigured children because of it." Yusuke commented, adding the children part as an afterthought. Hiei looked ready to kill him, and would've come close to doing so if the door hadn't opened just then.

"It worked, you gotta be shitting me!" Kuwabara said.

"You are shit," Yusuke confirmed. Kuwabara glared angrily, then the group started rushing in, Kurama in the back with a smirk as he looked at a lever he had just pulled._ I just couldn't resist this. Curse my inner Yoko, but it was fun._

When the four guys made it inside, they saw Teki right away. He seemed to be in pain and using the support of a wall to keep himself up on his feet.

"Hm, well I see he got hurt pretty bad," Yusuke commented. Teki heard him and turned his head to see the group had followed him in. He tried not to show the pain he felt mentally and physically, to no avail. The group ran toward him, figuring he was in too bad a shape to attack. They were right.

"Get back, I don't want to fight anymore." Teki seemed to be begging in a very pathetic manner. The guys exchanged confused expressions, and then Yusuke grabbed Teki by the front of his shirt.

"Hey, listen here! Just what are you trying to pull anyway? You can't honestly expect us to believe that you've regained control of your body just in time to stop yourself from destroying the world, especially when you were so close!" The detective yelled at Teki. The man in question cringed slightly because Yusuk's grip pulled the shirt tighter around Teki's body, restricting his breathing just slightly.

Teki couldn't bring himself to say anything in his own defense; he just lowered his head and smiled.

"I suppose I can't expect anything from you after what I have done. I ask you one thing though," Teki looked up again. He coughed a little. A drop of blood dripped from his mouth and down his chin. Yusuke kept his serious exterior. Kurama and Hiei watched carefully just in case this was a ploy. Kuwabara watched intently because that's what the climax does, it makes you want to know how it's going to end.

"I want you to kill me."

Yusuke blinked and then tilted his head a little.

"And why should I do that?" Yusuke asked.

"I've been in this world too long, and most of the time I was here I didn't have any say in my own actions. I figure that to repent for my deeds and to save this world, I must be destroyed," Teki explained as Yusuke loosened his grip.

"You know, I hate being told what to do. So if you really think that you should die, be my guest, kill yourself." Yusuke released him.

"Why? Why won't you kill me?" Teki asked. Kurama then spoke up.

"Well Teki, this is a holy temple, it would be disrespectful to kill a person in here. Plus, Yube said she would be the one to kill you, but seeing as she is unable at the moment…" Kurama trailed off, he did not need to finish.

"You are not really considering letting me live?" Teki asked quite weakly. This time Hiei spoke up.

"I for one do want to see you dead. But I don't listen to those that I could kill just like that," Hiei glared as he reluctantly crossed his arms and held his ground. Teki raised one eyebrow slightly at this.

"That's his way of saying he's pissed at you for killing someone close to him, but, knowing you were possessed the whole time by whatever it was, he really has no reason to kill you now if you've truly gained control. But he's still majorly pissed." Yusuke translated. Teki frowned.

"I'm sorry about Aka. To be truthful, I understand why you cared about her." Teki suddenly smiled again. Hiei raised an eyebrow.

Teki grabbed his stomach in pain. He felt something burning inside him. It felt like his internal organs were being stabbed by millions of sharp needles. (Cue sad YYH music XD)

Teki started breathing very heavily and then he coughed rather loudly. Yusuke thought the cough looked painful somehow. Blood came spilling from Teki's open mouth, and then he stopped coughing. Kuwabara cringed because it looked painful, disgusting, and just plain messy. Teki looked up at them, as he remained hunched over, grasping his stomach.

"I'm sorry you had to see that… it looks like this body can no longer hold that monster inside me, it has been shortening my life since it entered me. I have a feeling that if I had never stolen the staff that first time all those years ago, things would be fine and the dragon demons would be living peacefully in Makai. I would've asked Aka for her hand in marriage when she came of age. Yube would know me as her brother, and Elder Linkai would've been able to get that scroll he'd always wanted to read.

"Pardon me, Hiei, I saw you twitch at the Aka comment, let me explain. I had had an arranged marriage to her since before her birth. My parents were two of the most powerful dragons in the tribe and when they met Aka's parents, they thought that the two would have a very strong child. I was to marry her for the sake of a strong bloodline, not for love. Our parents were also good friends. But regardless, in this short time, not even in my own control, I've been smitten. You may not like that, but you have no need to worry, I'm going to die soon anyway.

"I'm just glad that my consciousness was able to reach Yube in recent weeks… I was able to tell her about her past even if she was skeptical at first..."

With that, Teki fell to the floor on his stomach. Yusuke, Kurama, Kuwabara, and Hiei all just stood there. They had no intention of helping him or making it worse. It was his own choice; he'd asked to die.

"Come on guys, let's go. The power gem is safe, the staff can be left here, and the world is once again, saved," Yusuke stated as he started to walk off. Teki lifted his arm weakly, holding his pendant in his hand and spoke up again.

"When you see Yube, tell her my real name. It's Kai; and give her my pendant…" he trailed off and died right there, his head lying in a puddle of the blood he'd coughed up.

Hiei was the one that picked up the pendant from Kai's hand and he and the other guys walked out of the temple.

When the guys reached Yube outside of the temple, the structure suddenly vanished behind them. They blinked, wonder why that happened?

Tasuke was the first to say something. Which made it easy to tell that he was mildly thrilled that they had succeeded.

"Well dang-skippy! I'll be damned, you guys did it!" Tasuke pumped his fist. Melanie rushed to Kurama and hugged him. Jess smiled at everyone. Kuwabara smiled too and started telling the story of what happened with Yusuke making side comments. Hiei just looked about two hundred feet away to see Akarui's body still lying there.

Kurama kneeled down at Yube's side and Hiei gave Kurama the pendant. Kurama took the pendant and gently shook Yube awake, for she had fallen unconscious while they were in the temple.

Yube blinked herself awake and looked around her. All of them were looking at her quite relieved.

"So, I take it things went alright?" Yube said as she slowly sat up in the sand.

"Yeah, Teki- er Kai's dead, he wanted you to have the pendant he was wearing, though, I don't know why." Yusuke shrugged.

Yube smiled slightly, but then shook her head; "You'd best give the pendant to Aka, what's the point of a person that's going to be dead receiving a gift?" Yube asked with a broad smile.

"What?" everyone shouted. Yube cringed slightly and covered her pointed ears.

"Not so loud, I did just wake up," Yube complained, but then lengthily added, "Like I said, I'm going to be dead. I'm going to give Aka all the life energy I have left so she can go on and live a good life. Away from that nasty step-dad of hers. She hasn't had the experience of a nice and warm family to come home to. I take that in a few years' time, Hiei, you will make sure she has a life that is perfect for her, a nice environment, and a great person to love."

Yube smiled as she rose painfully and walked over to Akarui, the others staying close to her to support her if she stumbled. She fell to her knees at Akarui's side and said, facing everyone else, "She's my best friend, and I think she deserves this second chance. So in my last words, I say goodbye my friends."

With those words, Yube closed her eyes, lowered her head and held her arms over Akarui's body. Without facing them this time, Yube smiled and said, "Hiei if you upset her or harm her you can expect me to come haunt you for life."

"I won't hurt her," Hiei assured Yube.

Yube answered, "Good." A light came from her hands and went into Akarui. Then with the last of her strength, she pointed her index finger and thumb of her right hand at Kurama like a gun, "Bang."

The light got so bright that the others had to, for the third time today, look away and shield their eyes. When they opened their eyes, they saw that Yube was no longer there, she had disappeared. On the other hand, Akarui seemed to be waking up.

Hiei went to her side and touched her hand with his, then gently took hold of it. Akarui opened her blue eyes and saw Hiei over her. She smiled brightly at Hiei and sat up. She looked at Hiei's hand holding hers, and she pulled him into a tight hug. He actually hugged her back.

Yusuke, Tasuke, and Kuwabara smirked behind them.

"Hiei, you lucky bastard! Look at you, grabbin' a gal for life! Tell me when the wedding is, I like cake. Oh and I'm not babysitting your kids either!" Yusuke howled with laughter when he finished. Tasuke and Kuwabara laughed too. Kurama, Melanie, and Jess just shook their heads simultaneously and sighed with smiles.

Hiei tried to get up to start maiming and/or mutilating them, but Akarui grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him down onto her. She smiled and said, "I'm so glad you're alive."

She looked so close to tears, that Hiei didn't try to fight her to continue his plans of hurting Yusuke and the others.

In fact, Hiei smiled at her and kissed her pretty heavily for a first kiss. (Yeah, he did kiss her in an earlier chapter, but she was sleeping, so that doesn't count.) Akarui's eyes widened at first, but then they relaxed and closed.

The others couldn't help but smile, though Yusuke did comment, "God, you two get a room!" Hiei pointed his middle finger from his free hand at Yusuke and a flame ignited on the end and he shot it at Yusuke, causing Yusuke's pant-leg to catch fire. Everyone other than Hiei and Akarui widened their eyes, then started laughing at Hiei's multi-tasking.

"Agh! Dammit Hiei!" Yusuke yelled as he tried to put the fire out. "Why couldn't you just settle with flippin' me off!" Yusuke demanded.

End Chapter 6

Next time- So the adventure's over and everything's back to normal. Right? Well, actually, everything's different in good and bad ways. Yube's gone, but Akarui has new friends and a lover, and she's away from that horrible step-dad, living at Genkai's temple. Melanie, Jess and Tasuke went back to their own homes, but Tasuke visits quite often on weekends. Kurama and Melanie stay in touch through e-mail and long-distance phone calls and Melanie will even get to visit in summer. Jess stays in contact with Tasuke through letters in the mail, believe it or not, and she seems to have developed feelings for him. Join us for the epilogue of The Bright Sunset and the Evening Moon!


	7. Epilogue

Epilogue: The Aftermath and a New Beginning

"Hey girl! Wait up! Akarui!" called a girl with long brown hair. It was Akarui's friend, Yuna. Yuna had brown eyes and was wearing a Meiou High uniform. Akarui turned around as she heard her name.

"Yuna, you know you don't have to be so loud." Akarui sighed at her friend, who just shrugged in response. Yuna then smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry Aka, but I was wondering if you could come over today, we haven't hung out in forever." Yuna complained while still maintaining a smile. Akarui sighed and shook her head apologetically.

"Sorry Yuna, but I have a meeting to get to," Akarui told Yuna. Yuna's face flashed with disappointment.

"Is it your boyfriend again, that really short guy?" Yuna asked, mildly irritated.

"Not just him, some friends from America, Australia, and Mushiyori. Shuichi-kun, Yusuke, and Kuwabaka are going to be there too," Akarui explained. Yuna raised an eyebrow.

"I'm still unsure about you hanging out with the Great Urameshi, plus, your boyfriend almost cut me with a sword once. Honestly Aka, what do you see in him?" Yuna asked as she put some of her straight brown hair behind her left ear.

"I see many things." Akarui smiled before continuing, "but maybe we can hang on Saturday, kay?" Akarui suggested.

"Alright, but you better not bail on me this time! Got it?" Yuna waved her finger, in a warning manner, at Akarui. Akarui nodded and said goodbye, then started bolting down the street.

She was in a hurry. Everyone was getting together at Genkai's in about one hour, which didn't give her much time to get there. But now having control of her demon powers a bit better than she had five months ago, she could run almost three times as fast as before. She was pretty fast to start, too.

Of course, she was going to Genkai's whether everyone would be there or not. It was where she now lived. After that whole Teki thing, she had had her step-dad "meet" Hiei, who wasn't at all happy with how Akarui had been treated there. So Hiei "persuaded" him to let Akarui leave home and find a much nicer place to live. At least, that's what she told anyone who asked. In reality, a sword to the throat is classified as a threat.

Akarui took the train at the Shinkansen station to her home everyday now, so she boarded the train to see a familiar face. It was Hiei; he smiled and waved to her from his seat. She smiled back and sat next to him.

"Hiei-chan, I see you already boarded… Amazing, you're actually riding a train for once," Akarui commented, only for Hiei to shrug and then slip an arm around her shoulder casually.

"Well, I figured I'd spend more time with you, and I couldn't run there today because I twisted my ankle this morning." Hiei answered with a smile. Akarui gave him a skeptical look.

"You baby, your ankle can't be that bad, and besides, you never let that stop you before. I'm just going to guess you wanted to see," Akarui said with a cute grin as she snuggled into him. Hiei blushed a little; public affection was still quite new to him.

"Damn, foiled again," Hiei said with a grin, "Anyway, don't Kurama, Yusuke, and the idiot usually come on the train with you? Where are they?" he added after he paused for a moment.

"Oh, well Kurama left school early with a note. Yusuke and Kuwabara are always late," Akarui thought aloud as she sat up straight again. Hiei gave her a look that said "good point."

So the two talked a bit until the train came to their stop. But they still had quite a way to walk before they reached Genkai's temple. Soon enough though, Akarui and Hiei came to Genkai's and out in the front of her temple, they saw a tree. The very same tree from five months ago, the one that they'd fallen out of due to the bizarre spider incident.

They walked in the main entrance that went straight to the living room. Inside they saw Kurama, Yukina, Botan, Koenma, Melanie, Tasuke, and Jess. Everyone looked at the two that had just entered the room and silence fell. Suddenly, Botan and Melanie jumped up with smiles on their faces.

"Akarui! It's so good to see you again! I've missed you!" Botan cried as she hugged Akarui so tightly that the poor girl had trouble breathing.

"Good to see you again, how have you been?" Melanie asked as Botan continued the "hug of death." (She's the Grim Reaper, I'll bet she can actually do that!) Akarui started to go blue in the face from lack of oxygen. She looked pretty annoyed.

"You're acting like a dentist, asking me questions when I'm incapable of answering," Akarui gasped. Botan let go quickly. She looked rather sheepish now.

"Sorry, 'bout that…" our favorite blue haired grim reaper apologized quickly.

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, are Yu-chan and the lunkhead late again? And where's Genkai?" Akarui glanced around the room. Kurama sighed.

"Well, Yusuke is er… 'working out' and Kuwabara is finishing homework. They should be here shortly. How was the train ride here?" the red head fox asked politely. Akarui smiled and sat down on the couch next to Kurama and started chatting. Hiei sat next to Akarui, quite protectively, even though Kurama wasn't the kind to make a move on claimed woman. Melanie sat back down on Kurama's other side and the first couch was full. The second setting opposite from the first couch was full too. (Sitting left to right is Tasuke, Jess, Botan, and then Yukina.)

So after a while of talking and stuff, there was an eerie silence among them. Akarui then realized she didn't know someone in the room. The girl sitting next to Botan, the one with the teal hair. She was pretty short and had deep crimson colored eyes. Akarui tilted her head to the side a little and then glanced between Hiei and this girl, they looked a lot alike.

"Hey, um… are you two, like, related in any way?" Akarui broke the silence as she pointed at Hiei and Yukina. Hiei froze and then made a quick rebound by doing his trademark "Hn" followed by a glance at the wall. Yukina just blinked and shook her head.

"I don't believe so," she answered simply, and then added, "Oh, by the way, my name is Yukina."

"I'm Akarui," she replied as she thought for a moment, and then blinked as realization hit her, "Oh! I've heard of you! You're-! Mrmph mrph muh?"

Hiei had covered Akarui's mouth with his hand. He made a "shush" noise and Akarui then understood. Hiei didn't want Yukina to know about the whole sister thing yet. Yukina tilted her head now.

"I'm what?" the ice maiden asked curiously.

"You're that ice maiden that Kuwabara mentioned that's so pretty and stuff…" Akarui recalled a moment in the last few months when Kuwabara had been daydreaming about Yukina. Yusuke had been the one to hit Kuwabara in the head and tell him to stop fantasizing because it was bad for his health. Of course, Hiei was there, which is why Yusuke said that. Kuwabara insisted that such thought indicated a healthy young man. Though Yusuke had insisted that Kuwabara's thoughts weren't dirty enough to be healthy for a young man.

"So, anyone up for the beach?" Akarui asked boredly. She was referring to the shoreline at the edge of Genkai's property. It was nearly sunset, and the beach was really nice then. Botan, Yukina, Melanie, and Jess raised their hands. Akarui had expected at least two more hands, but they didn't go up. Kurama and Tasuke actually exchanged looks with Hiei and then looked back at Akarui.

"We were actually hoping that we could have a nice conversation with Hiei while you were all at the beach. We need to discuss something, you know, a man-to-man talk," Tasuke grinned with a look of mischief on his face. Kurama smiled and nodded his agreement. Hiei just raised an eyebrow and then looked at Akarui. He gave her an apologetic look but she smiled and shrugged. The girls then got up and left.

Once the girls left, the guys exchanged looks. Tasuke instantly jumped into an interrogation mode. "Hiei, so we wanted to talk about your relationship with Akarui, and what you think of it. So…"

At the beach, Melanie, Yukina and Botan were wading in the water and laughing when a wave would wash over their feet. Jess just sat at the waterline and dipped her toes in when the water came that far up. Akarui was watching the sunset, thinking of everything that had happened. It seemed so long ago, but it felt like only a day or two had passed. Yube was dead. Her best friend in the world, and the one of the only people that had treated her nicely before the big mission, dead.

_Yube, you idiot. Why did you have to go and save my life at the expense of your own? Sure I had a cruddy life, but I had fallen in love and known it, I could've died happy. I really could have, Yube._

Akarui noticed that a tear was running down her face. Botan and the others all looked at her with concern.

"Akarui, are you okay? Why are you crying?" Melanie asked as the other girls walked over to surround Akarui. Akarui smiled at them all, and just looked back at the sunset.

"I just miss Yube-chan," Akarui said, not changing the focus of her gaze in the slightest. Jess, Melanie, and Botan all frowned. Melanie and Botan started crying right away, Jess just lowered her head and allowed her bangs fell over her eyes.

*At Genkai's temple*

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Hiei yelled; annoyance was easily detected in his voice. Tasuke shook his head as Kurama sweat dropped.

"By turtle he meant-" Kurama started translating the sugar-coated words Tasuke had used, which was pretty much the reason he was there.

"I _know_ what he meant and the answer is no! But even if it was yes, I wouldn't share it with the world, let alone you!" Hiei yelled at Tasuke. Tasuke sighed, and then he started again.

"You're sure? Not even just the turtle's toe?" Tasuke asked, knowing he would only madden Hiei more. Hiei gave Tasuke his best 'you better shut the hell up or I swear I'll kill you' look. Tasuke frowned and gave up; he had this sinking feeling that Hiei really wanted to kill him. Kurama sweatdropped and sighed as he decided to leave the room.

As the girls were entering the temple, they heard some noise behind them. Loud yelling and thumping. The group of girls turned around to see something interesting/entertaining. Yusuke was beating Kuwabara over the head and Kuwabara was yelling at him to stop so he could finish his homework.

"Yusuke, Kuwabara! Great to see you guys!" Akarui was the first to greet them with a smile. Yusuke looked away from his victim-…err… his friend and smiled back at Akarui, Botan, Yukina, Jess, and Melanie.

"Hola chickas!" Yusuke greeted. Kuwabara smiled at Yukina and rushed over to her, dropping the homework he'd seemed so intent on finishing.

"Yukina! It's great to see you again, have you gotten taller?" Kuwabara said, sounding pretty shy, which surprised Akarui, but then she smiled. _That idiot doesn't know this, but someday I might end up being in-laws with him. Great… I hope there aren't any funerals right after a family reunion…_ Akarui thought this with much amusement.

The group walked into the living room. Hiei and Tasuke, who seemed to be at eachother's throats both froze and looked at the group. Yusuke grinned. Akarui and Jess sweatdropped. Their boyfriends hated one another, or they just had a weird way of saying they were friends.

"Hey Tasuke, looks like you've achieved the same status I have with Hiei, did you ask him about his sex life?" Yusuke asked jokingly. Tasuke nodded as Hiei slowly let go of his neck in the presence of Akarui, not to mention Yukina.

"Yeah, can you believe he's still a virgin?" Tasuke asked with an amazed grin. "I mean, he's probably over one thousand years old and he's still never done it!"

Yusuke looked at Hiei's evil glare. Kuwabara didn't really bother to snicker, for he was talking to Yukina about kittens.

"Hiei… that's pretty pathetic… but then again, that cat incident…" Yusuke started only to be silenced by a sword at his throat. All this time and Yusuke wouldn't let him forget about telling them about the cat. Hiei grinned suddenly, but still held the sword there.

"Well, tell me this: Why are you still a virgin then?" Hiei (not literally) took a stab at the detective's pride. Tasuke gasped.

"Yusuke, you're one too?" the brown haired, Yusuke-like teenager started laughing.

"Okay… who else wants to leave the room while hormonally-challenged boys are talking to eachother about their sex lives…?" Jess said and left the room. The other girls left.

In the Akarui's room, the girls were just sitting down. Akarui sat on her bed. Yukina chose to sit on the foot of the bed. Botan sat in the computer chair at the desk. Melanie and Jess both took seats on the floor next to the bed.

"So Jess, Tasuke's a virgin too, right?" Akarui asked. Jess sweat dropped.

"I came in here so we wouldn't have to listen to that sort of talk! And yes, he is…" Jess answered. There was an eerie silence after that, and then the girls started giggling.

"Goodness, our boys are so stupid sometimes, but we love them!" Botan said in her usual cheery voice. The girls nodded their agreements.

There was then a knock on the door, then it opened a crack and the girls smiled at their favorite red headed fox. Kurama smiled back, though he was wearing an apron with an adorable fox chibi on it, it did not make him look any less of a guy.

"Hello girls, how was your walk on the beach?" the fox asked politely. He now walked all the way in the room.

"It was fun Kurama, we had a splash fight," Melanie told him. Kurama smiled.

"That does sound fun. I just came to tell you girls that dinner is ready. Genkai and I have been working on it since you left, it's a barbecue," Kurama said, sounding rather pleased with himself.

_Well, that explains the apron…_ The girls all sweat dropped as they thought that. They all got up and headed to the backyard. (Well, I'll just say backyard because it's behind the front entrance to the temple.)

When they got there, all the guys were out there too. Yusuke and Tasuke both had large bumps on their heads. Kuwabara had a black eye and a fat lip. Hiei, well he looked fine, except for the irritated tapping of his foot and the bruise on his cheek.

"Wow Hiei, did they actually get you?" Akarui asked, sitting down next to him. Hiei looked at her with a smile, and then he tilted his head towards Kurama.

"No, Kurama came in and 'broke up the fight' because we have to come and eat the nice meal he and Genkai made us," Hiei mocked his fox friend. Telling Akarui this only seemed to increase his irritation.

"Aw, you're so cute when you're irritated!" she said in her sweet voice. Akarui then hugged him. Hiei blushed slightly.

_(Haha! Hiei, she is soooo turning you on with that cuteness act!)_ _Shut up! Wait… What the hell are you doing here! (I'm here because I feel like it. Besides if you don't admit that you're turned on, it will be considered denial and you get to spend another long while with me until you admit it! Yay!) Okay, whatever. Just go away so I can enjoy my dinner! (Fine, but don't forget dessert! Bye! Seeya soon… maybe!)_

In Spirit World, Koenma was just entering his office after grabbing a snack in the kitchen. He saw his blue ogre, Jorge Saotome, messing with a small device on his boss's desk.

"Ogre, what are you doing? That device isn't for playing around! It hasn't been tested yet!" Koenma began to lecture Jorge.

"Oh, Koenma Sir, I'm sorry!" Jorge back away from the device quickly. "But if it helps, it works very well. I've used it a few times… and well… let's just say that Bob has done a good job." Jorge twiddled his thumbs as Koenma walked over to his desk, set down his food and then looked at the device.

"What _have_ you been up to? I do hope you haven't been abusing our technology!" Koenma pointed accusingly at Jorge as the ogre chuckled nervous.

"Hiei?" Yusuke poked at Hiei with a fork because he had suddenly dazed off. "Well guys, it looks like I have to poke his third eye out to get his attention." Yusuke held the fork in a stabbing motion.

Hiei glared, for he had tuned in on Yusuke's last sentence. Hiei tapped Yusuke on the shoulder with his finger and the shoulder of Yusuke's jacket suddenly ignited in flames.

"Agh! Damn you Hiei!" Yusuke yelled and panicked.

Botan, Tasuke, Kuwabara, Melanie, Kurama, Jess, Genkai, Yukina, and Akarui all laughed.

(This is where the theme comes in. Cue music.)

_Running in a crowd in a faceless town, I need to feel the touch of a friend._

_In the countryside I wonder far and wide, the isolation gets me again._

Yusuke tries to put the fire out to no avail. Now the others start to worry and Kurama pours a bucket of water over him. Kuwabara had tried to help too, but a soda isn't a very pleasant thing to have spilled all over you.

_I don't know where to go, when I feel like crying, oh my._

_I want to open myself, do something new; I want to stop- and grow up a bit._

_Then suddenly, my power and confidence start swelling up magically erupt, and it's all because of kindness that I feel from people I don't even know._

By now, Yusuke is chasing Kuwabara with a fork, ready to stab his eyes out. Botan tries to calm Yusuke down by offering him a hamburger with ketchup. Of course, she's still holding the ketchup bottle, so when she jumps in front of Yusuke, he crashes into her and she accidentally squeezes the ketchup out of the bottle and onto Yusuke's pants. She then starts running in circles with Kuwabara to escape Yusuke.

_Then suddenly, my intuition and my wisdom grow, and then I know. But most of all I sense compassion's wield in to strangers wherever I go. Thank you for waking me up!_

Yusuke, Botan, and Kuwabara all run off. The others then shrug. Well more food for them. Kurama sits down with Melanie, Tasuke sits down with Jess, and Hiei sits down with Akarui and they all smile at each other.

"Well Hiei, looks like a happy new beginning!" Akarui looked at Hiei. He smiled back at her.

"Yeah, it is."

Everyone looked at Yusuke chasing his two friends in the sunset background. Akarui's pendant shone brightly.

End of Story

Me: Well I'm satisfied and very proud of myself! This story is the first among my collection to be completed. I'd like to thank my good friend Reioko for encouraging me to continue this story. I always hoped to write a sequel to this story. I'm not sure whether I will or not at this point, but I'm still interested in continuing. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this work of fiction.


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